Pokémon: A Fire Against Fate
by Galleon
Summary: The story of a 16 year-old kid named Cole as he starts out on a new journey. His first night away from home, sitting there, gazing into a small campfire with his childhood friend, Vulpix, sleeping by his side, things take an unexpected turn...
1. A Broken Dawn

((OOC: My first Pokemon-related story, ever. And FYI, gray italics flashback. Normal italics simply mean unspoken thought. Originally, I posted this on a message board, but I felt like posting it here to see if I could get more feedback. ))

_Pokémon: A Fire Against Fate__  
by Galleon_

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_**Part I: **__**A Broken Dawn**_

**Monday 22:43 GMT // 10:43 PM**  
**N**ight had come in a rush. The moon and its fellow stars hid behind a sea of dark clouds, and the gentle wind of the late day had gradually begun to pick up. Various animalistic noises could be heard ever so often amidst the dense forest that pushed against an empty road cutting through it. Plagued by shadows, the ground swarmed with dancing black mayhem as the light from a single campfire cast its puppeteer's strings upon those different shades of darkness.

Two figures sat together, nestled between the small fire and the brunt of an aged tree. The larger figure was a young man looking to be around his mid-to-late teenage years, perhaps sixteen as a more defined estimate. A well-fitted, navy blue vest overlaid a white long sleeve shirt bearing a dark red stripe down the length of each arm, and a pair of rather standard blue jeans fit loosely against his crossed legs with the help of a jet black belt, retaining a deep silver lion's head for its buckle. His shoes, tapped up against each other, matched color with his belt and held a thick soul, probably for greater durability in what one might have expected to be their extensive use. He wore only one glove; matching the black of his belt and shoes, it stopped halfway up the fingers of his left hand. Aside from his attire, his face held a certain earthly youth to it, perhaps hinted at by his smooth features and the dark brown clinging to his eyes as well as the properly messy shag that he called hair. The red, cylindrical pack that was normally strapped firmly to his back now lied on a patch of grass next to him.

Sitting there staring into the fire, Cole let his mind wander away from himself. _You know_, came the beginning of his reminiscence, _I never really thought that I'd ever get around to this day. It always seemed like something that was nailed into the future, and even though I'd always dreamt about setting out on my own journey, to realize that it's actually beginning..._ He let himself trail off unfinished in favor of another thought. _Mom and Dad... I think I'm already starting to miss them..._ A touch of what he thought might be homesickness grazed the lining of his stomach, and he adjusted his seated position against the large oak to his back in an effort to relieve the unsettling feeling. With an abrupt sniff to help him gather himself, Cole turned his eyes towards his partner, who'd managed to fall asleep against the side of his leg some time ago.

The maroon-colored fur covering its body seemed just slightly unkempt, very similar to Cole's own hair. With lids drawn over those marbled crimson eyes and darker-toned tails coiled around its body, it pawed faintly at something in its dream. For the most part, Vulpix slept relatively soundly, even managing to keep the drooling to a minimum, which was pretty rare, as Cole recalled. They'd been together since he was six, according to memory, but it wasn't always so peaceful as this. _To think that I nearly succeeded in flushing you down the toilet that one time..._ A small smile turned up the end of his lips as he recalled how vehemently the two had 'gotten along' at first. _I remember I wanted a pet so badly that I'd bother Dad almost every day... and when he finally caved and got me a baby Vulpix... it turned out nothing like I thought it would…_

_"That thing's insane, Dad!" Cole yelled to his father, pointing an accusing finger at the little red fox firmly tied against the leg of the family's heavy dining table._

"You said you'd take care of it, son. You aren't gonna go back on your word now, are ya?" his father replied with a slight smirk, stroking the tip of his goatee with a couple fingers from his left hand.

"Well… but…" was all Cole could manage against that annoyingly frequented argument from his father. An abrupt shake of his head brought him back to his own argument. "That thing set my bed on fire! While I was still in it!"

"I knew it," Cole's father sighed with a reluctant expression laced with satisfaction, "I told you that a pet would be too much responsibility for you…"

...Cole blinked, suddenly coming back to the present. Gently resting his left hand on his sleeping Vulpix's head, more memories filed into his thoughts and he began to feel a distinct heaviness pulling at his eyelids. A deep breath furthered the notion of sleep as the sound of rain falling grasped his ears. It felt kind of refreshing, he realized as a musty new scent washed over the area. _Today wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be… With all that walking, Vulpix and I hardly even made it out of Azalea Town… Then again, we mighta gotten lost somewhere in this forest…_ He couldn't help but give a lazy grin as he settled back against the tree, trying to nose away some of the fat rain drops that had run down onto his forehead. _I think I'll try to avoid shortcuts from n-_

A crash of lightning on the horizon broke into his thoughts, and for a second he felt a shiver cling to his spine. A low lulling noise still ringing in his ears, Cole squinted at the deeply darkened road when the sound didn't fade. _What is that?_ he asked himself, straining to place the dulled hum. He looked down to see Vulpix perk up, standing on all fours with a queried look plastered on its face, as well. 

Another bolt of lightning burned an afterimage into the sky, leaving a tremendous ripping sound only a couple seconds behind; and as the deep rumbling in his chest subsided, Cole heard that same distant hum again, only now it seemed to have jumped a few decibels closer. Several nightly birds leapt out of the forest all at once, flying away from some unknown terror. Tremors began choking the ground beneath him as his eyes widened in disbelief.

Across the road, massive trees jerked violently and suddenly uprooted themselves to be flung back deeper into the forest, soon giving way to an enormous blackened silhouette. Spotlights shown down from atop the menacing presence, illuminating several metallic arms bearing saws, drills and even what looked like giant gloved hands lurching forward to clench whole clusters of trees and ruthlessly deracinate them from the earth. Hearty chunks of dirt, mud, and rock cascaded through the air, grazing Cole's cheeks and arms as he quickly rolled over to shield Vulpix. Then, without any warning at all, all the churning and grinding of iron and steel stopped, leaving a relative silence as everything tried to settle back into itself.

Still trembling, Cole came out of his defensive curl to stare up with tearing eyes at a gigantic machine interrogating him with its harsh, piercing headlights. Squinting through the stabbing fear, he tried to ignore Vulpix's whines of similar feeling. The object seemed like an oversized tank, he realized after a moment, though the many elongated arms jutting out of its front corners looked to detour any thoughts of standard military reference.

The sound of a large hatch pulling open averted Cole's eyes to the sides of the monstrosity as several figures piled out of the thing. All similarly dressed in black uniforms topped with what could have been a strange type of motorcycle helmet, each one bore a definite red sash across his or her chest. None of them said anything, but only stood there staring at Cole and his Vulpix as another low hum rose from the momentary silence. Cole looked up to see another individual appearing from the machine's utmost top, apparently by means of a slow moving elevator. Upon reaching its pinnacle, the elevator stopped, and a grave voice took its place.

"It's just a stupid kid, I see." The figure, apparently a man, took a single step closer. The heavy cape draped over the man's shoulders hardly even twitched in the growing wind. Little could be distinguished about this person with the immense darkness still covering the sky, not to mention the two blinding spotlights beating down at Cole. "Do you know the punishment for getting in our way, boy?" came the booming voice again.

Cole remained silent, incapable of any words.

"Of course not. How could you know, unless you're one of us?" What might have been a laugh broke out of the man's mouth. "We'll just take that little fox there as payment for interrupting our mission."

"What!?" Cole burst out, still unable to keep the shake out of his voice. "Who are you, anyway!?" A strange mixture of anger and fear rolled around in his stomach, creating a sickening sensation of anxiety. 

"Hmph, there's no need to tell a shrimp like you." A quick nod of the man's head, and two Pokéballs bounded towards Vulpix, immediately emitting a red aura to introduce the enemy's attackers. A Golem rolled out into standing posture, and a Wartortle came spiraling through the air to land on all fours atop a displaced boulder, glaring at Cole and his fox.

But Vulpix bolted forward first, headlong into battle.

"No!" Cole shouted after it, "You can't!"

The small fox didn't listen. Everything suddenly lit up as scalding flames erupted from its mouth, leaving smoldering earth in its wake as a pillar of flames tore a path to Golem. Cole squinted at the fierce intensity behind the fire, but Golem didn't budge as the burning stream split straight down the center, whipping away to set one of the far off trees ablaze. Surprised, Vulpix slid to a halt, but a sudden jet stream of water threw it off its feet with a curdling whimper, pressing it into an upheaved stone. When the Wartortle released its watertight grip, Vulpix crumpled to the ground in a soaked heap, unmoving.

_Vulpix is nowhere near strong enough for these guys!_ Cole thought urgently, _I have to do som-_

An abrupt slug square in the jaw cut him off, knocking Cole to the ground as he tried to shake the haze out of his eyes. From where he had fallen, Vulpix was clearly visible, heavily drenched and bundled up into a defeated curl.

"All too easy," said a haughty voice, "I guess we couldn't expect much of a fight from some random kid like this. Geez, he must be totally new to this; the kid doesn't even have any other Pokémon."

Trying to shake away the spots from his eyes, Cole craned his neck around to see one of the black-dressed grunts rummaging through his red pack. At that sight, his eyes widened, and everything else seemed irrelevant. He suddenly found himself on his feet, dashing towards the person holding his bag. "Don't touch that, you-!"

The last word was stolen out of his mouth before he could say it, and when he looked down to see where it had been taken, Cole saw an elbow digging into his stomach, twisting as it shoved him back to the ground.

For a while, it all seemed to be happening to someone else, as if he was only watching and the pain he felt wasn't really his. His vision stammered inside of itself, and the clouds seemed to descend from the sky to cast a murky fog over everything before a black silence slowly began to take him away from all the noise. And as Cole watched the night delve further from his senses, a few trailing words gathered into his mind as a last, trembling echo.

"…Some kind of list? Heh, what a piece of trash…"

_"See, buddy?" Cole said, holding a slip of paper up in front of his little red fox's face. "It's a checklist." He smiled, proud of his idea. "It's got all the things I want to accomplish when I finally embark on my journey! See, see?" He pushed it closer for Vulpix to get a better look._

The fire Pokémon looked at the paper with an emptied gaze, almost stupefied, then stuck its nose right up next to it, sniffing cautiously like any small animal would. After a moment, Vulpix tilted its head, as if to say it didn't think the idea nearly as wonderful as Cole apparently did.

"Aw, come on, buddy. Don'tcha understand?" Cole's grin lessened slightly at the lackluster reaction he'd achieved, letting his shoulders slump down a little. "This piece of paper will keep me on track; it'll keep my head straight so I can achieve all my most important goals," he paused to point an index finger at the top of the list, "like seeing all the different kinds of Pokémon there are, and becoming Champion of the Pokémon League and super-famous as a world-class trainer, and-"

The paper suddenly burst into flames, forcing Cole to let go as it burned to ashes. His face went flat, an eye twitching irately as he threw his gaze at the rolling fox. Its high-pitched mirth made his temples bulge.

"Agh, Vulpix!" He scooped up his fox to shake it violently, but it only seemed to heighten the little joker's laughter. "Now I have to make another one…!"

**Tuesday 07:36 GMT // 7:36 AM**  
Cole started awake, his eyes popping open as he jolted his body up into a seated position. Looking around frantically, he found the forest around him in shambles. Stray branches and rocks littered the ground; entire groups of trees were snapped off at the root while others were torn out of the earth completely. Giant track marks drove off deeper into the woods behind him, leaving a path of sheer destruction. Squinting, he noticed that the night had left, subsiding to the first signs of daylight. Clouds hung over the distant mountains, and though the sun hadn't come up yet, its arrival seemed imminent. He took a heavy breath and felt a penetrating ache off to the side of his forehead. A couple inquiring fingers revealed a bit of blood, and he figure the head injury must have contributed to his falling unconscious. And then it hit him.

"Vulpix!" his mouth shouted instinctively, "Vulpix, where are you!" Urgency and panic roiled his chest as his legs moved over the debris to start digging for his small friend. "Vulpix!" Dirt and rock and mud flung out in all directions as he started to chisel his way through the fallen forest. "Vulpix!" He couldn't stop himself from shouting all the while, tears welling up despite the protest in his eyes. "Where the hell are you!?"

For a time, he stopped thinking, stopped feeling, and only let his body search as if by some automated action. His eyes were seeing, but he was no longer looking. His ears were hearing, but he wasn't listening. Until, at length, even his body gave up searching and only lied on the ground, letting salted droplets roll off his cheeks and into the destroyed earth with all his other belongings.

_They took him_, he finally admitted to himself, _they took my best friend…_ Cole could only stare straight up into the early morning sky at the bundles of puffy white cloud, seeming so carefree and distant to him. _I…_ a thought started shakily, _I couldn't do anything… I couldn't do anything at all… They just took him… so easily… it's like I wasn't even there…_ He clenched his eyes shut, trying to make the words stop. _I… I'm so… so… _He raised his arms to his temples, as if to stop the words with his bare hands. _Pathetic._ A yell belted out of his lungs and straight into the bluing sea above him; a harsh, cracking yell that pulled him to his knees to where his hands could sink down to the splintered wood before him. And suddenly, he felt something under his left hand, something unexpectedly smooth, if a bit crumpled.

His eyes slit open and Cole saw something besides clumps of dirt and broken wood. It was the little piece of paper he'd stuffed into his bag before leaving home; it was the list he'd made to try help him remember the goals he aimed to achieve on this journey. His eyebrows receded with surprise as he attempted to smoothen the slip of paper so that he might be able to read its contents... and perhaps try to remember his reasons for being here. The words spilled out of his mouth as he read them off, letting them echo across the demolished portion of forest.

"I, Cole Rigen, do hereby proclaim my intentions for the quest that I shall be set upon once the approving rights of my fatherly and motherly parents are properly administered-" he paused to take a moment to chuckle half-heartedly at the ridiculous grammar he'd chosen, and decided to skip his senseless introduction, "-Objective 1: To achieve a renowned status throughout the world as a remarkable trainer and Champion." Cole stopped as he finished those last words. _Right now_, he began to himself, _I don't care about that…_ And as he skimmed down the rest of his list, he realized the truth of his current circumstance. _This thing is useless_, came the harsh thought, furrowing his brow as he stared at the paper. _That guy was right. It's trash…_ Stark distaste wrenched at his face. _Was I really so obsessed with this crap? How childish could I be…? _Gritting his teeth, the anger flew to his hands, tearing through the paper in a frenzy. Shredded white fell towards the churned earth, floating with specks of the morning wind. At the sight of it, he blinked away the water behind his eyes before moving to gather up what was left of his possessions.

And though Cole still felt the immense strain within his chest, as he took up his fire red bag again and tightened it into its diagonal position across his torso, he smiled. He smiled the way one does after finally finding something that is more important than anything else. _I'll get you back_, Cole promised as he pulled himself from the wreckage and back onto the roughly paved road towards Goldenrod City. And as he gazed into the horizon laid out before him, he saw the sun peeking through the morning's earliest clouds to greet him with a broken dawn. 


	2. Cutting Reminiscence

**_Chatper II: Cutting Reminiscence_**

**-Tuesday 16:28 GMT // 4:28 PM-**  
**T**he late afternoon sun dawdled in a high corner of the sky, as if waiting for the clouds beneath it to part. A while back, the road had become a smoothly paved artery of traffic and started breaking off onto other smaller roads that probably led to more rural towns. Cars had become increasingly more frequent compared to the dusty old path through the woods he'd been on the day before, and while it did make traveling by foot a bit noisier than Cole would've liked, at least it reassured him that he was headed in the right direction. Of course, by this time, Goldenrod City was clearly visible, and in a less than metaphorical sense, the city really did seem to be colored golden under the sun's bathing light.

_Aw, man…_ Cole grumbled to himself as he rummaged through his bag. Apparently, taking Vulpix wasn't enough for last night's bandits. His head dropped with a beaten depression as he checked inventory. _Hm… a few berries, my pictures of mom and dad, my First-Aid kit, a few pokeballs, and… a slice of bread? Great._ He quirked an eyebrow. _Hey…? They took all the sandwiches mom made for me?! What, did I get robbed by Yogi in the middle of the night? Geez…_ He sighed and swung the bag around to fasten it into place on his back again. The arching steel entry gate into Goldenrod passed over his head as Cole shoved his hands into his back pockets. He blinked when he pulled out a wad of cash. _Money…_ came a vague statement as he squinted at it, trying to remember when it had gotten there…

_"Now, you be careful," Cole's mother told him with a bit more of a commanding tone than might have been expected of such a housewife. _

"Don't worry, mom," he reassured her, "I'll be fine."

"You better be fine," she retorted with a hard stare, "Don't do anything stupid. And don't agitate Vulpix into burning off your eyebrows in your sleep again. Made you look like a darn fool 'till they grew back three weeks later."

"…ah-" he rolled his eyebrows, remembering how much it had stung, "Okay, mom."

"And take this First-Aid kit with you," she went on, hardly even pausing for a response from Cole as she dug into his bag to ensure it wouldn't be forgotten, "It's got all the basic things you need for small injuries, but don't go thinkin' you can fix a broken arm with that, ya here?"

"I know, mom… If I get a serious injury I'll go to the nearest hospital…"

"Good. I don't want you trying to put a Band-Aid on your second-degree burns like last time."

"Alright…"

"And take this extra money with you, just in case." A rare smile accompanied the fistful of money she held out for him. "I don't want you overstaying your welcome at those Pokemon Centers all the time. Lord knows we've got enough people leeching off the government, already."

"Thanks, mom…" Giving her a weak grin of his own, he accepted the money and shoved it into his back pocket instinctively.

Then, she paused, just looking straight into his face. For a second, he could almost see a tear in those stern, yet somehow still motherly eyes of hers… But instead of a crying, she bashed him over the head with her fist. "It's impolite to stare!"

…Thumbing through his newfound loot, Cole tried to estimate the capacity of the stack in his hands. _Meals and a place to sleep will probably be the most expensive things unless I go to the Pokemon Center, but Mom told me not to rely on the system unless it was an emergency…_ It didn't occur to him that getting beaten up and robbed might be considered a type of emergency. _…I might wanna pick up some extra pokeballs next time I go to the Pokemart, so… looks like maybe a week's worth of cash. Might be able to make it last a bit longer if I play it cheap, but I definitely need to find a new pokemon somehow... I could try to win one at the casino here, but that seems pretty risky. Maybe as a last resort…_ He shook his head, trying to think. _There's supposed to be a big park with pokemon at the other end of this city, so maybe I can find one there… Not sure how I'll actually weaken one enough to able to capture it, but…_ The inside of his eyebrows dipped up at the prospect of his idea, feeling it to be a bit half-baked. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?" he suddenly decided aloud with a grin plastered on his face. At the strange glances of several passersby, he decided to keep up a steady walk.

Goldenrod City seemed endless. Its vast streets, packed with people and cars and all kinds of other vehicles, were lined with some of the tallest buildings Cole had ever laid eyes upon. Though that wasn't saying much, he still knew this place to be one the largest city, if not _the_ largest in all of the Johto region, and perhaps most other regions, as well. The sun streaked sky painted a fitting background for the town, and the towering structures only reflected the ambiance right back. The whole city felt like it was glowing; even the people within it had an aura of their own. A certain kind of hum clung to the air as well, driving the lively nature of the place forward as the community went about its business. Everything contributed to the atmosphere; the voices from all that dwelled here pitched in to create the voice of the whole city. People, animals, cars, bikes, busses, pokemon; they all played a part, even if they weren't seen or heard individually.

After a while of walking indecisively, Cole finally rounded a corner to catch sight of a modest restaurant at the foot of an immodest office building, wedged there between a souvenir shop and some kind of department store. Without another thought, he turned into the store to give it a chance. Upon entering, he noticed a bit of 'experience' about the interior.

"Welcome!" came a friendly greeting from behind an extensive counter. It was a man, and a rather large one, at that. "Welcome to Shap's Classic Diner!" A fearsome mustache curled off the sides of his face, making a stark contrast to the gleam from atop his bald head. A tiny pair of sunglasses teetered on the brink of falling at the crest of his massive nose. "What can I get for ya, stranger?" He planted a heavy hand down on the counter-top, leading the eye up a massive arm to his burly chest.

"Uh," Cole started as he walked forward, scratching his head, "Sorry if I don't order the most expensive thing on the menu, sir, but I'm in a bit of a bind right now… so…"

"Ah, no worries, son," the man replied with an open-mouthed grin, "I've had my share of financial troubles, as well. Why don't you try our 'world famous' noodles? They're just about the cheapest thing to eat in this whole town."

"Are they really world famous?"

"Nah," the man laughed, "But they're definitely cheap!"

_Well, I guess I walked right into that…_ Feeling slightly bewildered by the mere presence of this strange individual, Cole only nodded.

"Great!" he shouted with more than a little enthusiasm, "One 'world famous' bowl of noodles coming right up!" He spun around to whip up the meal on the stove right behind him. The sound of sizzling water filled the air as the kitchen came to life.

The right side of Cole's face scrunched up as he stopped trying to understand the man's attitude. He took a high-chaired seat at the front of the counter, folding his arms over the heavy wooden top as a relieved breath spilled out of his lungs. He'd spent almost the entire day walking, and now the sun could be seen dangling just above the horizon's layer of cloud. The sprawling bay windows covering the wall that lined the street made for a just barely suitable light source against the shadow of this towering building.

As he let his eyes wander around the small shop not known for its 'world famous' noodles, a few distinct details caught his interest. For instance, there was a rather robust-looking boat capsized into the far wall with a couple matching oars; and on the other side of the shop, a heavy white cloth was stuck to the wall, presumably a small sail. Two fish tanks abundantly packed with underwater life stood at either end of the restaurant, further hinting at this place's tie with some kind of fisherman's lifestyle, so Cole took a shot.

"You used to be a fisherman?"

"Sure did," he began without turning away from the cooking food, "Always been my greatest passion, even when I was still a just a speck of a boy hardly able to walk straight."

"That long?"

"Well, I didn't quite master that art until I was about eight years old," he explained, belting out a hearty laugh in that gruff voice of his.

_He sure is a strange old guy…_ Cole surmised, shifting awkwardly in his seat before asking another question. "So, if you love it so much, why'd you give it up?"

"Hm," the man paused, rolling a hunk of noodles before continuing, "Like I said a minute ago, I've had my share of financial trouble…" A slab of noodle smacked against the frying pan for an intensified sizzle. "I used to live in Olivine City. I had my very own boat, a beauty she was, and I'd go out to sea and fish up the biggest catches you'd ever see, then sell 'em at the local market there. Made a right fine living, too." The noodles flipped over in the pan as the large man sighed. "But… one year, the fish just weren't biting, leaving me with only a few wigglers to sell. That was a rough year, but I managed. Thing was, the next year wasn't any better. Things just started to change in those waters, I don't know what it was exactly, but as I passed the days, sitting there on the deck of my boat with the sea washing by… I could feel it; I could just sense the change coming over those waters, like a creeping ghost or somethin'… Then one day, she took my vessel from me."

"The sea took it?"

"Nah, it was the wife. The sea was certainly a cruel mistress, especially in those days, but my wife had it beaten any day of the week. Filed for a divorce, she did, and took my ship from me. Probably thought that I loved it more than her, seein' how I spent most of my time with it, so takin' it from me was probably the sweetest kind of revenge for her…"

Cole only quirked an estranged eyebrow at the man's story.

"Ah but, that's a tale for another day; a much longer, duller, and outright stormy day. To sum it all up for ya, I didn't have enough money to by myself a new boat, so I eventually ended up here in Goldenrod trying to make ends meet in this restaurant." He spun back around to slap a heaping bowlful of cooked noodles down in front of Cole's hungered eyes. "Eat up, son."

_Hm…_ Cole thought for a moment as he glanced around at the empty shop, _Doesn't seem like you're raking in profits from this place…_ He blinked the thought away to smile at the cheerful man. "Looks great. Here's your money, pops." His hand slid exact change across the countertop.

"Whoa, now. Call me Shap." He swiped up the money and walked it over to the cash register a few paces left to deposit it.

"Alright, Shap. You can call me Cole." Shoveling the stringy meal into his face, he nodded in appreciation of the flavor.

"But what brings a kid like you to Goldenrod City, all on your own, no less?" Shap asked as he began counting up the cash in the register.

Cole paused in mid-bite, then forced the massive glob in his mouth down with a strangling gulp before attempting to answer the man's question, bringing a touch of moisture to his eyes from the strain. "I aim to become a powerful pokemon trainer," he explained with a melancholy smile.

"Oh, really? That's quite the dream you've got there," Shap replied without taking his eyes from the money in his hands, "How's your progress?"

"Eh… not so great, I suppose…"

"Is that so…?"

**-Tuesday 20:01 GMT // 8:01 PM-**  
A gentle breeze brushed a few leaves against Cole's face as he waited, hunched down in a small bush. He'd spent a great deal of time at the restaurant chatting with Shap about the circumstances that had befallen him, and now only a few morsels of light still hung around the enormous park as the sun still proclaimed its fallen presence behind the distant mountains, creating a strange sort of twilight. With a condensed pokeball rolling on his palm, he sighed. _Gah… this wait is killing me… what's it been? Two hours, now?_ Disparity climbed into his thoughts. _What am I doing here? Even if I did come across a suitable pokemon, I don't even have a way to weaken it enough to capture it!_ His lips pushed up slightly as he evaluated the thought.

A sudden rustle in the tall grass across from him turned his eyes towards a lone Sunkern, bouncing its way through what must've been a wall of green for it.

_Well…_ he settled, _I guess it's better than nothing…_ His arm reared back and chunked the pokeball straight at the tiny leaf pokemon, but the Sunkern suddenly twisted around to stare off into another direction, alerted by something else. And when the red and white ball rustled the grass behind the creature, it yipped with a high-pitched, "Kern!" and darted away.

He leapt out of the bushes in disgust. "Son of a-!" But another abrupt rustling noise broke off the last word, and Cole ducked right back down into the same shrub, digging into his bag for another pokeball. The sound jumped closer, garnering beads of sweat on his forehead as his heart started pumping faster from the anticipation. _I may only get one shot…_

A flash of green suddenly barreled into him, shoving him out of the bush to roll up against the foot of a sturdy pine tree. The sting of pine needles sticking into his back made him squirm out of his position, only to find his pant leg snagged on something inside an overgrown plant. He tugged at it with his leg, but it didn't budge. He curled around to blindly inspect the captured leg with his hands, finding a hard, flat surface cutting into the denim cloth. _…That could've been my flesh_, said a thought with widening eyes. _Is that a pokemon?_

The shag greenery twitched, and Cole felt a quick jerk against his pants; and without any further warning, the bush leapt off the ground to be shredded to pieces by a scythed blade. Falling leaves littered the air as the creature dicing them finally became apparent. A bladed forearm led into an emerald-colored exoskeleton, beaten and wearied with scratch marks and burns. The normally stiff double-paired insect wings jutting out of its back with a line of green bone across the top were now slumped and drooping with fatigue. Its bruised torso led down to a pair of trembling legs, hardly able to keep the Scyther on its feet, and its vagrant, almost hollowed eyes bore half-drawn lids as the creature teetered on the brink of collapse. In its frantic struggle, Scyther tore the caught scythe-arm out of Cole's pant leg, taking an admirable chunk of cloth along with it.

Cole could only stare in shock as he watched the insect pokemon stumbled out of the grass, seeming set on getting away from something. _Is it afraid of me? What the hell happened to it?_ A heavy thud invited Scyther to the ground, but it still struggled desperately to steady itself, dulled cries of, "Ssscciiieee," and "Thheerrr," rising out of its mouth. Relentless confusion gripped Cole's thoughts as he tried to piece together the scenario that had fallen into his lap, but another noise from further into the recreational area disrupted any progress he might have made.

"Where'd that little green bastard go?" an angry voice inquired into the growing night.

Peeking over the line of hedges that Scyther had nearly annihilated, Cole saw a couple of figures, silhouetted against the approaching darkness. _They're trying to capture it?_

"It got away? You're hopeless!" a deeper voice protested. "Find it before you lose it completely!"

"Hey, get off my back. The little buggers are known for their speed. I told you to keep an eye on it!"

"You were the one battling it! You're supposed to keep an eyes on your enemy, you moron!"

"Shut up! It's dark out here…"

Cole squinted, trying to paint a better picture for himself as he still heard the wounded Scyther struggling against gravity. _Well, if they were the ones who fought it in battle… then maybe I should just let them capture it…_ Then the park lights finally switched on, illuminating the area in full. _Wha?!_

"Come on, the boss told us to gather up as many pokemon from this park as we could." Even with the extra light, the man's face was still hardly discernable at that distance from Cole. However, the flat black jumpsuit and flaming red sash running across his chest gave more than enough information for Cole to make his decision.

The tiny pokeball in his hands suddenly bulged to full size, and without even thinking, he spun around to thrust it towards the giant green bug pokemon. The ball bounced once on the ground before tapping against Scyther's right leg; an eruption of crimson light burst out of the sphere to engulf Scyther's body within the confines of its inner walls.

"What was that?" asked one of the far-off voices.

"What was what?"

"I thought I just heard something from over there…"

The pokeball snapped shut, but the light on its front side still blinked with an unsettling red. _There's no time!_ he concluded to himself urgently. He could see one of the black figures starting to move in his direction. _Even if I do get the capture, it's too weak to fight against whatever those guys throw at me! I've gotta make a run for it!_ His legs burst away from his lookout position, kicking up shredded leaf in their wake as Cole sprinted for the pokeball still quivering against the nightly earth. His hands scooped it up as it continued to tremble within his grasp, but he wasn't about to let it go, and his legs only kept pumping his body towards Goldenrod's most urbanized area. _If I can just get to a place where there are more people…_ The day's fatigue reared up on him, and he felt his vision blur in and out of focus as his feet pounded against the ground with increasing intensity. Grass and brush receded into a clearing, and when Cole glanced back, a sudden burst of panic drove his pace even higher. One of the black-clad men had seen him, and was now only a few strides behind, chasing him with menacing energy.

"Get back here, kid! I only wanna ask you a couple questions!" a rusted voice shouted.

Cole didn't bother replying, only focused on running as fast as his legs would allow. Heavy shadows streamed by his vision without stopping; tall grass appeared under his feet again, but it only turned his strides into leaps. An aching strain burrowed into his lower chest, but he only kept pushing his muscles harder as the enormous trees lining the park gave way to the enormous buildings lining the street. Grass turned to dirt, dirt turned to gravel, gravel turned to concrete; streetlights, stray windows, manholes, bus stops, benches; they all passed him by, but still no people appeared. He wanted to look back and check if the man was still chasing him, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around, and the blood pounding through the veins in his ears made it difficult to hear anything other than his own heartbeat. He tried to yell something out, cry out for help, but his voice broke off as the words approached his lips, choking breath out of his lungs. Sweat streaming off his cheeks like tears, his eyes turned down to see the his hands trembling violently, but he wasn't sure if it was simply his own nerves or the blinking red pokeball. And then the most relieving thing he could possibly imagine filled his vision, slowing all the rushing objects around him to a momentary crawl as he realized exactly what it was: the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center.

An immense, neon pokeball lit up the entire street, reflecting off the mirrored windows that covered several of the nearby structures. Its soothing light bathed Cole's face in a comforting grasp as he let his body move autonomously towards the sliding glass doors awaiting only a few dozen meters ahead.

But then, his murky brown eyes caught glimpse of a black streak striding behind him in those same reflecting mirrors. Like some kind of counter-existence of the salvation lying ahead of him, Cole could see a black phantom following his own mirrored body, and a surge of fear suddenly told him how terrifying the sight was. A last flare of effort burned out of the pores in his flesh; the welcoming doors hardly even had enough time to open before he slipped through to stumble into the open lobby, bringing a slew of chaotic gasps and panicking breaths with him to break whatever silence might have made itself too comfortable there.

Tiled floor greeted the force of his arms as they made contact, smacking his body against hard, yet somehow forgiving ground. Panting for his life, Cole caught eye of the brightly red-haired Nurse Joy, and, to his utmost relief, the uniformly clad Officer Jenny, both approaching with surprise and concern embedded in their faces.

"My goodness!" one of them said indistinguishably to Cole's ears. "What in the world happened!?"

Resting his eyes behind their sleeves and his body against the floor, he attempted a few words between his narrowly controlled breathing. "A… a man… f-f-follow-ing… out-out-side…!"

"Calm down," said a soothing voice, most likely the policewoman, "You're safe here, so try and calm down…"

Cole turned his head to rest flat against the chilled floor, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the pokeball for the Scyther that he had carried all the way here. It had finally stopped shaking.


	3. A Rocky Start

_**Part III: A Rocky Start**_

**Wednesday 05:49 GMT / 5:49 AM**  
**B**lack haze cleared away to reveal a sterile-white ceiling. Cole's eyes struggled open for the first time in the past eight hours, divulging little but a swarm of confused inquiries in his head. An expression of blatant stupor settled into his face as he sat up, feeling a distinct stiffness in most of his muscles. His glazed eyes wandered lazily about the room; he found himself sitting on a gently orange sofa, rather pleased that he wasn't lying on the hard, whitewashed table under numerous lamps in the center of the room. _Well, I guess this isn't really a human hospital, so I won't get dissected here…_ Large file cabinets made sure that no corner went unused, and bleached countertops retained an assortment of needles, tissues, tools, and various other discomforting objects. There was a certain breeziness about the air; it felt continuously fresh with each breath he took. He blinked with a shake of his head, still trying to alleviate the lingering daze behind his vision, when footsteps entered through the open doorway at the end of the wall on his right.

"Ah, you're awake," a feminine voice said.

It was Nurse Joy, Cole realized upon looking up. Garbed in her traditional apron and dress, her friendly eyes smiled at him, pulling a smile out of his own face. _I heard about this… but do they all really look the same? Kinda eerie…_

"It looks like you and your Scyther will be just fine," she explained cheerily, "All you both needed was a good night's rest, though I ran Scyther through the restoration chamber for you, anyway."

"So it didn't have any serious injuries?" Cole inquired further.

"Not really; just very extensive exhaustion and a few bruises, but it's perfectly fine, now." She crossed her arms to look more intently at him. "But you two must've been through quite a lot to have lost so much energy. Don't push your Pokémon or yourself so hard, from now on. It would've been much more dangerous if you had collapsed just about anywhere else."

"Yeah…" he hesitated, wondering if he should tell her about the strange men he'd encountered for the second time. _Would it really do any good?_ a thoughtful question asked him. But he didn't have an answer.

"Would you like to see your Scyther?"

"Ah," Cole blinked, realizing that she shouldn't have had to ask, "Yeah… please."

"Please follow me," she told him as she turned to leave the room.

Following her was trickier than he'd suspected; his legs still wobbled just enough to provide slight discomfort as he left the room, leaning against the wall for stabilizing support.

Confronted with the options of right or left, he followed Nurse Joy to the right. The hallway was predominately bleach white like most everything else, but a few bulletin boards tacked up against the walls provided a break for sterilized eyes. Pale light from the lamps embedded into the ceiling behind a rough fiber glass held a small tint of yellow to them, which gave something of a homely feeling to whatever it cast itself upon. Polished clean floors squeaked against his shoes' thick souls, and very nearly presented him with a distinguishable reflection. Red and white doors passed him by, some with Pokéball insignias carved into them, until Nurse Joy finally settled upon one in particular.

When Cole entered behind the nurse, he found a room similar to the one he'd previously been in, only this one was much deeper and kept a string of padded tabletops running down the center towards the back wall. Most of the tables remained empty, save one, which housed a lone Pokéball hooked against a carbon tube leading up to a microwave-sized machine labeled: "Intensive Care Unit."

"Your Scyther is still pretty wild," Nurse Joy began as she unhooked the ball from its makeshift pouch, "So we had to keep it in its Pokéball for safety reasons."

"Yeah, I just caught it last night," Cole explained with his hands clasped together behind his head.

"Be careful with it," she warned, "Wild Scyther can be highly aggressive." She handed the small red and white sphere to him, but not without a look of slight concern fixed onto her face.

"I'll be careful," he assured her as he received his troublesome Pokémon. And after a moment, he added, "I don't really have a choice, anyway…"

"What do you mean?" the cherry-haired nurse inquired

"Scyther's my only Pokémon," Cole said more to himself than to her as his eyes stared intently at the crimson-plastered molding built into the Pokéball, "That means, right now, it's my best chance at becoming a strong trainer… my best chance… maybe my only chance…" He let the ball contract into a miniaturized state to latch it into place against the back of his charcoal belt, and then turned to look at the Pokémon nurse again. "There's something important I have to do, and I need power to do it."

"Power?"

"Strength. Pokémon have strength, so I need to have Pokémon. I need their strength." A fierce intensity burned all other light out of his eyes as he looked intently at the nurse.

"But, Pokémon are more than just tools for power…" she said, her eyes saddening slightly as she spoke, "They're living creatures; they're our friends."

Cole blinked, Vulpix's fuzzy red image running through his head. "…I know," he told her, almost sighing, "Believe me, I know…" His eyes trailed off to the floor, just staring at that polished tile blankly.

"Well," Nurse Joy started again, her ringing voice breaking a momentary silence, "If you're looking for more Pokémon, you should try to find some grass-types."

"Grass-types?" he asked as his eyes looked vaguely up.

"Your Scyther is a bug-and-flying-type, so it should have a big advantage over grass types," she clarified for him with a growing smile, "You could probably find plenty of grass-type Pokémon in the forest beyond the park to the north of town."

_Beyond the…_ "Ah, thank you. I'll give it a try." He nodded gratefully to her before turning away to leave the room. _They wouldn't still be there, would they?_

**Wednesday 07:27 GMT / 7:27 AM**  
The morning sun cast an auburn light through a thick of trees lining the edge of Goldenrod City's largest park. A few people lingered about the area, despite the youthly time of day; some them were jogging or walking, some chatting amongst themselves, and even some that didn't appear to be doing anything worthy of note at all. Early clouds dotted the sky, as if setting up for a big event scheduled later in the day. All things considered, it seemed a pretty harmless atmosphere, leisurely even.

Cole adjusted his navy blue vest against his shoulders as he strolled along the rim of the park's tallest grass, feeling the tap of his Pokédex against his chest as he fidgeted. _You know_, came a musing thought, _There could be grass Pokémon right here in the park… That Sunkern I saw last night was a grass type…_ An eyebrow quirked as he tried to consider the possibilities. _Sure a Sunkern's nothing to get worked up about, but there might be some stronger grass-type Pokémon hiding in there, too…_ His eyes snuck towards his bottom left to glance at the grass forest's base. _After all… grass Pokémon living inside a bunch of grass? Does that just make too much sense?_ Then his eyes popped wide open at the sight of something a bit unexpected.

A massive snake slithered out of the dense greenery, leaving Cole to choke on his own breath in surprise. Spanning several feet in length from fang to tail, the reptilian creature coiled around to form a precarious, spiraling stance, flat against the ground. Its dominating jet-black scales stretched and condensed as it whipped around to stare at him with a fixated gaze.

_Come on… how can there be giant, poisonous snakes in a public park like this?_ Cole though, trying to doubt the snake's very existence, _Surely the park management wouldn't allow…_

Then the reptile reared up to slit its tong out at him from eye-level, revealing that its scales also bore yellow, red, and violet colors in sparsely distributed areas.

_Snake in the grass? Does that just make too much sense, too?_ he asked himself wryly, fingering the tiny Pokéball at the back of waist. _It's a Pokémon, isn't it? Definitely a poison-type… not really any advantage or disadvantage for Scyther, but… Crap, that's a big ass snake…_ A violent rustling amongst the grass adjacent to him took Cole's eyes away from the serpentine creature.

"Haha! I finally gotcha!" a deep voice shouted just before a massive figure leapt out of the grass. The man flung a heavy net towards the snake Pokémon, landing right on top of the thing. "I've finally caught one of these dirty Sevipers!" the voice proclaimed again as the man darted forward to scoop up his prize before it could wiggle free. A hearty laugh belted out of the wieldy individual, sounding to originate from deep within a boisterous gut.

"Shap?!" Cole nearly shouted with shock.

The hefty man spun around with a broad grin plastered on his face, swinging the bagged Seviper like a sack of potatoes. "Ah, well if it isn't young Cole!" he said with considerably less surprise than the younger man, "How've you been, lad?"

"Uh," Cole fumbled, trying to put the 'Shap puzzle piece' into place, "Fine, I guess… What are you doing here, Shap?"

"Why, haven't you heard, m'boy?" the burly man asked, apparently taken aback by Cole's ignorance.

"Heard what?"

"The park's had a breakout of Seviper! It was all over the news this morning," he explained, motioning to the net with the swirly-eyed snake hanging from his shoulder. "Dangerous creatures to be loose in a public park, they are."

"Oh," Cole nodded with a hint of understanding, "So you've come to help rid the park of all these poisonous snakes, then?"

"Aye, you've got the idea of it," Shap confirmed, "But snakes aren't _poisonous_, lad, they're _venomous_. World o' difference betwixt the two."

"…Really?" Cole mumbled vaguely, beginning to lose interest.

"Of course! _Poisonous_ is harmful only if you've got the misfortune of touchin' the beastie with the stuff, but _venomous_… now, venom's injected right into the blood, or even spit atcha," the restaurant owner smiled wide with open fascination, "That's what makes these buggers so dangerous, you see; they go right for their victims, as opposed to only being poisonous to keep others away from 'em. 'Course, bein' Pokémon and all… they could work a mite differently than a regular snake, and mebee a tad less aggressive… or mebee they're even more aggressive-" He continued on for a bit, rambling about all the known and unknown variables that could make a Seviper different from a standard snake, invoking references to the anatomy of actual vipers, as well as cobras… and mambas… and moccasins… and corals… and so on…

_…I wonder if Shap was more of pirate than a fisherman… he kinda…_ Cole's mind had drifted elsewhere, but when the large man stopped talking to let an awkward silence roll in, Cole snapped back to the situation at hand by abruptly clearing his throat. "So, uh… you're saying there are a buncha snakes hiding in this park, right now?"

"That's exactly what I'm sayin', lad."

Cole shuddered at the potential problems he could run into trying to find a grass Pokémon to capture inside the park. "Well, uh… I guess I oughtta get-"

"Hey," Shap suddenly exclaimed, "Why don't you join me, lad?!" He thrust both arms in the air at the idea, sending the netted Seviper toppling over itself, still stuck within the man's grasp.

"Well… I'm kinda busy at-"

Shap's excitement broke him off before he could finish. "Why, that would be perfect, wouldn't it?! You're lookin' to be a Pokémon master and such, right? This is a great opportunity to catch yourself one of those gnarly Sevipers, eh?" He turned away to stare defiantly into the grass jungle, as if to counter a Glare attack from one of the snakes hiding within.

_Ugh… a poison-type…_ Suddenly Cole didn't feel so much like a Pokémon trainer, but more like an ophidiophobic kid with problems taking vaccine shots, let alone a snakebite. _Eh… heh, I don't think Scyther is ready for that kind of challenge…_ He coughed as he guiltily accepted the thought to be a legitimate excuse.

"Whaddya think, Cole?" Shap asked as he turned around, "You up for…"

The young man from Azalea Town was no longer there, leaving only a trail of dust in the direction he'd darted off to.

**Wednesday 08:49 GMT / 8:49 AM**  
Well, it took him a while, but Cole finally did it. _Have I been past this tree, already?_ He'd gotten himself lost.

The forest was denser than he had expected. Trees hugging other trees, underbrush growing between their heavy roots jutting out of the ground, indiscriminate sounds of wildlife resonating through the area; it made for a dizzying experience, especially for an amateur tracker and traveler like Cole. Fallen leaves were everywhere, crunching and crackling under his feet as he walked. Boulders overgrown with moss littered the ground, making it all the more difficult to find proper footing.

"…I don't think I've been here before," Cole mumbled through a raggedly confused expression. "Maybe I should mark this tree here…" _Or, maybe you should've thought of that when you first entered the forest…_ a lazy thought scolded him, _But no, you were far too busy running from a field full of venomous, nine-foot snakes with fangs the size of a saber tooth tiger… sheesh…_ He squinted at the thought; now he was just confusing himself. "Okay, no more thinking," he concluded decisively as he took a hold of Scyther's Pokéball.

The sphere popped open to let loose a red beam, soon retiring into the form of his green bug Pokémon. "Now," he began, "Scyther, carve a mark into this tree for me." Pointing a delegating finger towards the tree of interest, he awaited Scyther to fulfill his request.

But it didn't; the winged insect only stood there, eyeing him with uncertain intrigue, as if to say it didn't even know who he was.

"Aw…" Cole breathed as his eyes rolled back to look at Scyther, "Don't tell me you've got problems with authority…" _Well, I suppose we were never really properly introduced_, said another bothersome thought, _It tackled me, ripped a hole in my pants, then I through a Pokéball at it. Not much eye contact, as I recall._ Cole only sighed at the realization of how annoyingly long this could potentially take. "Come on…" he begged, "_Please_ carve a mark into that tree over…?" He suddenly stopped, finding that his tree of choice was no longer there. _What the…?_ He quirked an eyebrow towards Scyther, wondering if it knew something he didn't.

But it only blinked and tilted its head at him, wonderingly.

Cole's brow dipped down, a sign of growing suspicion. Nothing moved as he strained his ears to listen beyond the natural sounds of the forest. Birds chirping, a distant stream trickling over sharp rocks, trees stirring against the wind… _Wait_, Cole ruminated, _There's no wind… at least, not this low in the forest… meaning that sound should only be coming from above!_ His head snapped around to look behind him, and he spotted a rigid brown branch twitching vehemently. _Is that…?_ He still couldn't be sure; a thick of leaves adorning the tree's topside seemed to blend in perfectly with its environment.

"Ssscciiieee…" came a low-toned growl of his Pokémon's high-pitched voice, and as just as Cole was about to twist around to see what was wrong with Scyther, it bolted ahead of his vision, tearing across the forest floor towards the suspected plant.

A slew of leaves burst into the air as the 'tree' leapt out of its position to flee from its attacker. Weaving in between other trees to try and throw Scyther off its trail, the suspected Pokémon seemed to melt right into the forest.

"What the heck kind of Pokémon was that?!" Cole bellowed out as he propelled himself towards the fleeing Pokémon, Scyther speeding on ahead, apparently unshaken by the tree's moves. _If it's fleeing, it must be weak enough for an easy capture!_ he deduced with an open mouthed grin, trying to avert plants from blocking his view.

A stray branch slapped him in the face, causing him to blink harshly for a few seconds, and when he opened them again, Cole found himself sprinting through a grassy clearing. The sight of his Scyther standing at the far end of the defoliated area, between the fake tree Pokémon and the sanctity of the forest made him grin with a small sense of pride, but a sudden knock against his foot in mid-step made him frown as his face planted itself into the ground.

Trying to shake sense back into his vision, Cole rolled over on his back and propped his elbows against the ground. The sound of Scyther's blades connecting against something hard, perhaps rock, rang emptily in his head as he tried to piece together the scenario before him.

Numerous silhouettes fled off towards the woods; they seemed to be small figures carrying something on their backs, but whatever they were, they vanished before Cole could get a better look.

"Iiiieee-vvveee… eeghh…" A groggy-eyed Ivysaur stared agitatedly at him, trying to replant its toppled self back on all four legs. Various green shades covered its body, darker toned spots placed atop an underlay of aqua-green. The partially opened flower on its back retained a distinguished red-orange countenance. Quaint, little ears poked out of the tops of its head above its deep olive eyes, and two small teeth glanced out from its extensive mouth.

"Oh, eeeeehh," Cole babbled as he looked at it with a stupefied smile, "I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to-"

"Ivy-zar!" it cried at him, shaking its body enough to roll back over. "Zaur! Zar!" It hopped angrily at him, probably trying to make a point about his clumsiness or some such thing.

"Hey, n-no need to get mad… It was an accident," he tried to explain, but the Ivysaur didn't seem in the mood for listening. _Oops… I must've run right into the middle of a gathering of Bulbasaurs and Ivysaurs… and from the looks of this one, they were sleeping until I scared off the rest… _

Its jaded-green body started trembling again, and a rather unsightly yellow-orange powder started gushing out the top of the baby plant on its back.

"Uh-oh…" was all Cole could manage as he scrambled back to his feet. _Let's go check on Scyther, now…_ he thought hurriedly, bounding towards his bug Pokémon still several meters away.

Scyther had locked its blades against one of the strange Pokémon's heavy 'branches,' and they were both now struggling to push each other back, neither seeming to gain any kind of advantage. But when Scyther broke its away for a moment to look at Cole approaching, its opponent seized the opportunity and shoved it back towards a robust tree with surprising strength. The bug Pokémon flipped back to catch the tree's bark with its feet, effectively preventing any careless damage it might've taken. It kept a wary eyed stance with its two scythes embedded into the tree for support, letting it hold onto an almost perfectly horizontal position, chest faced towards the ground a few feet away. Scyther clung to its position for a few moments longer to glance between its most apparent enemy and the young man approaching from its far left.

_The fake tree is stronger than it looks_, Cole thought as he moved on a curved path towards Scyther, trying to keep his distance from the Pokémon he had yet to fully identify. There seemed to be a momentary break in the fighting, so he took this time to get his first good look at the Pokémon that Scyther had chased through the forest.

It still looked like a tree, in a strange, distorted-reality kind of way, with an earthly brown color covering the brunt of its body and forest-green coating three spherical bulbs stuck to the ends of each arm. Its white-grinning mouth beady-black eyes stood under a sort of 'wishbone' protrusion from the top of its bark-like head, and lighter brown spots ran down the length of its flexibly slender body to stop just above a couple of stumpy legs. The thing bobbed its head and shook its branches as if it was dancing, all the while singing an odd word or perhaps that vaguely rhymed in a high-pitched voice. And though it appeared as a tree, the Pokémon's body still twisted around, back and forth, in surprising fashion.

Cole wasn't quite sure what to make of the fiercely strange creature, but when his ears heard the approaching grumbles of the Ivysaur he'd left to stun the grass around it, part of his mouth hooked off into a frown. His neck craned around as he came to rest against the tree with his Scyther on it, trying to assess the situation at hand. _Calm down. Scyther's still got the advantage. Ivysaur is a grass-type, and that other thing's a tree, so it gotta be a grass-type too…_

"Sssuuuuudooo!" the wild tree Pokémon suddenly belted out, thrusting its two branch-arms into the earth below it. A light rumble shook the ground as it yanked several boulders out to send them soaring towards its apparent enemies.

Scyther tore itself away from the tree just before dense rock splintered and crushed its bark, leaving Cole to stumble away as wood chips tumbled off in all directions. And when he looked back, almost the entire tree was gone, demolished down to only a broken stump in the ground.

_Holy crap!_ Cole's mind shouted, _That was a rock-type attack! Grass-types aren't supposed to use rock attacks!_ His head swung back around to re-assess the wild tree he'd taken for granted, while his right hand dug into his inner vest pocket. The Pokédex flipped open to scan the Pokémon still prancing in place with a wide smile.

"Sudo-woodo," came the computerized Pokédex voice, "The Imi-tation Poké-mon: This Poké-mon is com-mon-ly mis-taken for a grass-Poké-mon, when in re-ali-ty it is actu-all-y a rock-type capa-ble of mim-ick-ing an oppo-nent'-s atta-cks."

He snapped the lid shut, sighing at the incredible mistake he'd made. _A rock-type has a huge advantage over a flying-grass-type… This isn't good…_

Then his green-cased bug Pokémon suddenly appeared next to him, pointing a thick scythe at something.

Cole looked up to see the Ivysaur, still wearing a frustrated expression, standing a few meters away from the Sudowoodo, probably halted due to the sudden explosion of force from the Sudowoodo. He blinked when an idea suddenly hit him. "Ah," he huffed, spinning back around to look straight into his Scyther's eyes, "You're best advantage is your speed, Scyther. Neither of them can match you there."

Scyther looked back at him intently, almost seeming to agree with Cole's logic.

Wetting his lips, Cole went on, "Scyther, get between the two of them and use Double-Team." He wet his lips in hope of his ideating working out properly.

And to Cole's surprise, Scyther nodded, then bolted away from him, the grass under its feet arching back under the wake of its speed. Just as it passed between the seed Pokémon and the dancing tree Pokémon, Scyther erupted into a streaming line of clones, all seeming to move up and down a straight path between the two opponents.

Sudowoodo only tilted its head, apparently not having a problem accepting the sudden appearance of so many copies, but Ivysaur jumped back, its eyes darting to and fro as it tried to pin down what was happening. A couple whip-like vines burst out of its sides, snaking around in confusing fashion before dropping down to sweep the entire line of Scythers from right to left. The Vine Whip attack cut through numerous afterimages, but didn't stop until it came halfway through, connecting with the side of Sudowoodo's forked head instead of the intended Scyther.

"Yes!" Cole exclaimed at the fruition of his plan.

Scyther's Double-Team subsided, letting the line of clones vanish to reveal its true position at the other end of the clearing.

"Now," Cole yelled out to Scyther, pointing towards the dazed seed Pokémon, "Slash Ivysaur before it recovers!"

The bug Pokémon immediately dashed towards toward the designated target, bringing its left sickle-arm up from its side to deliver a diagonal Slash attack against its body. The slice connected with enough force to knock Ivysaur back a few paces, trying to stabilize its shaken footing.

But Sudowoodo was far from out of the picture. While both Scyther and Cole had taken their eyes from it in favor of attacking a stunned Ivysaur, the imitation tree had closed the gap between it and Scyther. A high branch rose above its head as Sudowoodo appeared behind Cole's green bug, leaving only a moment's notice for the trainer to warn his Pokémon.

"Scyther, go left, now!" he shouted through held breath.

His Pokémon leapt as soon as it heard, but there still wasn't enough time to avoid the attack completely, even with its powerful speed. The olive branch thrust downward to mimic the Slash that Scyther had just used only seconds ago, nicking the tips of the double-paired insect wings lightly, but garnered more depth against the bug's right-side scything arm.

Zig-zagging away, Scyther fumbled for proper balance as it right arm fell limp. Its wings twitched after taking the graze, but still buzzed to life easily enough. Scyther spun around as it skidded to a halt several meters away from its enemies, kicking up low clusters of dirt and loose grass.

The battle had grown a bit farther away from Cole in all the commotion, forcing him to move closer to keep a better eye on its progress. As he approached his lightly wounded Scyther, the mantis Pokémon stared straight into his face, as if waiting for something.

"That was great," he praised it with a small grin, "You did it perfectly."

Seeming satisfied, Scyther turned its gaze back towards the now slowly approaching Ivysaur and Sudowoodo.

_What's the plan now?_ an inquiring though asked, straining his brain for answer, _…Let's see… their both wild Pokémon, but that doesn't mean that they'll help each other in battle… I can turn their attacks against each other with the right opportunity, but they probably are going to be more cautious this time…_

A pair of green vines slipping out of the plant-dinosaur Pokémon made his mind break-off with another idea, and everything slowed as a memory triggered…

_The Azalea Town Gym Leader had a Scyther, too…_ he thought, trying to considered the possibilities as quickly as he could, _There was a move he'd use to defend, even when it wasn't meant for that kind of thing… What was it?_

The vines lurched forward, closing the gap to Scyther as Cole struggled for his answer.

_What was it?!_

Slender, greens snakes whipped around to close in on the mantis from both sides.

_What was the attack?!_ he yelled to himself, clenching his eyes shut as the attack grew nearer and nearer. _I can't… remember…!!_

Seeing Vine Whip wrap itself around its abdomen, Scyther suddenly writhed to get out of range when it found its trainer without a command for it, but there wasn't time. The pair of vines enveloped its body to take a tight grasp upon its mid-section, holding Scyther into place as Sudowoodo moved closer for a direct attack.

"Swords Dance!" the words exploded out of Cole's open-mouthed grin. He'd only said it in the light of remembering so abruptly, but his large mantis took it as a command.

Scyther's left arm hugged its chest and its right arm remained limp and unmoving as it fought against Ivysaur's grip to begin the spinning ability. Its legs moved together and gradually, Scyther took control away from Ivysaur, having a hefty weight advantage on its side. A shroud of dirt and fallen leaves whirled around Scyther as it gradually spun more rapidly, continuing to wrap more of the vine's leverage around its body, which inevitably pulled Ivysaur closer and closer. Sudowoodo stopped to gawk at the spectacle, until finally Scyther stopped spinning with Ivysaur right up against its enveloped body. But the grass-type was even less mobile than the mantis Pokémon due to its lost footing; Ivysaur was stuck there, its feet kicking at the air between it and the ground.

"Swords Dance again," Cole said with growing enthusiasm, "This time, spin in the other direction."

Nodding, Scyther followed its trainer's command, starting to spiral with Ivysaur's vines still tightly wound around it. Though its arms, legs, and abdomen were all immobile, it didn't matter; Scyther's captured posture was perfect for such a move. And as it gradually began to pick up speed again, Ivysaur's vines began to unravel, unable to keep pace with Scyther's body; however, this time, since the seed Pokémon was already so close, the vines dragged Ivysaurs's entire body with them, giving Scyther a sort of 'sling-like' power over its smaller opponent as it twirled out of the enemy's hold.

As slack picked up on the green ropes, Ivysaur swung wider and wider from Scyther, forcing Cole to the ground before it nearly hit him.

But Sudowoodo, apparently lost in its epic dancing adventures at the moment, took a full on hit from the flying grass Pokémon, finally giving Ivysaur enough of its vines back so that it could release its 'hold' on Scyther itself as the two collided and tumbled across the verdant earth. Both opponents were grounded, and Cole's Pokémon had severely increased attack strength: a favorable turn in the battle.

Cole smiled as he watched Scyther take a wide stance; its feet spread apart with one good arm raised up behind its head while the other remained limp. _That last attack should've damaged both of them pretty heavily_, he surmised to himself, _Maybe I can actually manage a double-capture out of this after all…_

Sudowoodo recovered to its stumpy feet first, which was to be expected, considering its rock-nature and naturally greater durability than its smaller associate. Ivysaur took a bit more time, seeming to have quite a bit of trouble catching its second wind. However, when the determined frustration boring into its face started to burn with a dangerous white glow, that second wind seemed more like a tremendous gale.

The budding flower growing out of its back bloomed in full, garnering specks of grass where it connected into the creature's body. Bulky legs sprouted where its old ones had been, and the eyes embedded into its flat face widened along with the rest of its visage. Gaining nearly eight times its previous weight, the Ivysaur melted into the enormous Venusaur, known to be the final evolution in the seed Pokémon chain. Sharp, little teeth revealed themselves as it bellowed a deep roar for the very first time.

"…Aw, now that's just plain unfair," Cole muttered as he watched the scenario unfold before him. _Well_, started a wandering thought, _…crap._ Not many options seemed very appealing, at the moment. The fresh strength inside of the lumbering Venusaur could easily prove too much for his wearying Scyther. _I guess jumping in head on is out of the question… and the power behind that Vine Whip just got crushingly more dangerous…_

Sudowoodo stared at the newly transformed grass-type Pokémon, apparently unsure of what had taken place. An olive branch wandered towards the tremendous flower sprawed out on Venusaur's back, poking at it with natural curiosity.

_That thing just became the biggest Pokémon in the area… and probably the most powerful, given the circumstances._ His thoughts, though most likely accurate, didn't seem to be helping him in the least. _What to do…?_

Venusaur turned an irritated gaze upon the nosy Sudowoodo, and promptly slapped its branch away with a stray vine, garnering a surprised expression out of the wild tree's face.

_I suppose I might be able to turn their attacks against each other again… but how?_ A worried hand wandered up to console his forehead as he tried to think of some idea that would save him, however a more pressing matter would cut his planning time short.

Venusaur's mouth opened wide to project a widely audible cry injected with a strange sensation akin to grinding rocks together, and then leapt ahead, galloping straight towards Scyther. A sudden blast of small seeds shot out from atop the plant on its back, making Cole cringe in recognition of the attack.

_If that hits, we're sunk!_ "Agility!" his mouth shouted without consulting his brain.

Hearing the command, Scyther sprinted away, just barely missing the Leech Seed attack that might've crippled its energy and mobility.

"Vveeeeee," came a low growl as the gigantic grass Pokémon suddenly broke off its run to shake the ground with its abrupt stop, removing chunks of grass and dirt at a time. Several serpentine vines slipped out from under the red-orange flower sprouted from the beastly creatures back, coiling around precariously as Scyther circled around the seemingly shrunken clearing with heightened speed.

A few quick thoughts ran through Cole's mind as he waited to see what his wild opponents would do next. _Scyther's moves tend to revolve around enhancing its own power, mainly strength and speed… How can we use that to our advantage?_ He squinted, still uncertain of any set plan other than simply avoiding the enemy's attacks.

Earthly green whips lashed out towards Scyther's path of travel, aiming to stop its movement altogether.

"Fury Cutter!" Cole blurted out, only wondering if it was the right decision after having already said it. His mouth twisted into an uncertain cringe as he watched his Pokémon in hopes of beneficial results.

Scyther skidded to a halt; part of the Vine Whip attack extended passed it to slam into a rigid tree lining the small clearing. More vines approached it from the side, and when it raised its left sickle-arm to perform the specified attack, a thick pair of the snaking plant lines wrapped around its right leg, yanking it to the ground as it swung one of its few bug-type moves to deflect another approaching mass.

Its vines fastened against Scyther's leg, Venusaur pulled harshly backwards to drag the flailing Pokémon across the meadowy grass with a limp scythe digging up rock and dirt.

"Just keep using Fury Cutter!" the lone Pokémon trainer shouted. _It's in a horrible position, but at least its last attack hit…_ he tried to think optimistically, _now if it can just keep getting hits with Fury Cutter on the vines wrapped around its legs…_ A vaguely thought-out plan seemed to be formulating, by some strange aspect.

Scyther's body doubled up to get closer to the green ropes around its leg, so that it might have a clearer shot with its bladed arm. Venusaur's puppeteer ropes hauled the mantis Pokémon all over the small field, sometimes straight into boulders or stumps dotting the ground as Scyther struggled to hack itself free with continuous hits from Fury Cutter. Sudowoodo, having been dancing in place to pass the time, suddenly decided to get back in the middle of the fray. Darker green vines launched out of its olive branches towards the already endangered bug to ensnare the Pokémon's right leg, mimicking Venusaur's attack.

_…Crap_, was the only word present in Cole's mind as he watched the trouble multiply itself. _Two on one just isn't good odds… especially for my first battle using Scyther_. Despairing thoughts clouded his reasoning, making even more difficult to focus. _What was I thinking…? Going into the woods by myself with only one Pokémon?_ A slight contraction in his face lent itself towards the notion of hopelessness growing in his mind. _I'm such an idiot…_

"Sssccciiieeee…" arose a familiar growl from his bug Pokémon, still cleaving away with its seemingly ineffective Fury Cutters, "…Sscciieee… Sscciiieee…" Its high-pitched voice struggled against the strain on its body. Both enemies clutched a leg, pulling in opposite directions; Venusuar looked to be gaining ground on Sudowood, probably just from sheer strength in size, but that certainly didn't ease the burden on the bug Pokémon's legs. "Ssccieee-tthheerrrr…" The weakening power behind its voice made for a painful sight as Scyther continued in a relentless effort to gain its lower limbs back.

Cole's temples bulged with his clenched teeth, unable to tear his eyes away from the tenuous scene. _…They wouldn't be able to rip its legs off… would they?_ Merely thinking of the potential troubles brought an uneasy compression to his stomach. _But what can I do?!_ he thought urgently, _Swords Dance, Double Team, and Agility are all ineffective when its caught in mid-air like that, and by now, Slash would be even less effective than Fury Cutter…_ Racking his brain for anymore of Scyther's attack or any kind of solution to a situation like this, Cole's eyes waned against the pain that his Pokémon must have been experiencing. _Maybe I'd better just call it back and make a run for it…_ he thought fragilely, touching the mini Pokéball at his belt. _Maybe I'm not as prepared for this as I thought I was…_

"Sscciieee…" came that same voice again, "Scy…. Scy…" Its one good sickle-arm reared back again as it continued to fulfill the orders it was given.

"But…" mumbled Cole's voice, hardly even audible to his own ears, "Why should… Why should I give up?" He blinked at the sound of the words from his own mouth. "Scyther's not giving up… Why should I?" An eye-widening breath suddenly filled his lungs. "My Pokémon is still fighting, so why should I give up!?" he shouted, growing more consciously aware of his words. "Come on!" The words exploded out of his mouth with a raised fist as he tried to encourage his giant mantis. "Just keep it up!" Truth be told, Cole really had no idea if it would do any good, but he was at least determined to try as long his partner was.

It belted its high-pitched voice back at him, digging into the vines on its right leg with an enthused slice. Its body writhed against the tight grip on its legs, twisting back and forth to extend the motion of its slice as much as possible. Each consecutive hit pulled another short yell from its sharp mouth, as if trying to add further weight to each hit by any means possible.

Then, Venusaur flinched against the growing weight of Scyther's attack, loosening its strangle hold on the Pokémon's right leg, but not letting go completely. Another hit garnered a second cringe, and then another and another and another…

_Each hit grows more powerful than the one before it, if it hits_, Cole thought, going through the description of the Fury Cutter attack in his head, _But since the targeted area for its hits is right next to it, Scyther won't miss…_ A flat grin split his face as he watched the battle unfold. _Add on top of that its natural Swarm ability, which ups the power of bug-type moves when Scyther's in trouble…_ His breath stopped as he hoped for the effects behind his logic to show themselves before the two wild Pokémon broke one of its legs.

With its rigorous cries ringing throughout the area, echoing from tree to tree, Scyther's empowered Fury Cutter smashed into the vines still clutching its right leg within their grip. The threads loosened for an unsteady second and Scyther's body jerked towards the ground under gravity's influence before Venusaur's burdensome rope could recover. And with another resonating yell, Scyther reared way back with its left-armed blade grazing the ground below it, then thrust the attack down to deliver a blow right where it had been the hole time; the line snapped off, leaving Venusuar's vine to careen off back into its massive body as it stumbled back.

The right side of Scyther's body dropped to the ground as Sudowoodo pulled it closer from the left, dragging the emerald-green body towards it with an unsuspected strength from its hidden-rock branches.

"Stick with Fury Cutter!" Cole advised his Pokémon, before continuing more quietly to himself, "Its already tremendously powered up, so that attack is our best bet to ending this battle…"

Scyther's limp arm twitched with a hint of vivacity and placed the sharp end its blade under the towing green threads. Then, through all the loose leaf and dirt kicking up around it, Scyther thrust its left arm down on the vines, still invoking the threat of its Fury Cutter. Its blade cut straight through the green ropes, sending Sudowoodo fumbling backwards after its tight grip had been severed.

"Yes!" Cole exclaimed with a vertical leap, glad to finally see his Scyther with its mobility back. "Just keep using Fury Cutter!"

Its good sickle-arm dug into the ground as Scyther continued to slide, bringing it back to its feet so it could dart straight into Sudowoodo's unstable posture and slash diagonally across its earthen body with another Fury Cutter. Sudowoodo cried out against the force behind the hit; the attack, having been powered up with a double Swords Dance, repeated usage, and Scyther's swarm ability, dropped the imitation tree to the ground in what looked to be defeat.

Venusaur growled from its distant position several meters away, probably angered by its severed vines, then thrust its body forward with a slew of spinning leaves leaping out of the plant base on its back. Undoubtedly a Razor Leaf attack, bladed green discs spiraled towards Scyther's turning green figure, giving it only a moment's notice to leap out of the way. Numerous cuts sliced against its viridian exoskeleton before it could get away, but the ineffective-type of attack still only did minimal damage, freeing Scyther to tear across the ground towards Venusuar's slower form.

As it sped by, Scyther slashed horizontally across Venusaur's heavier body, connecting for still greater damage than the previous attack. The giant seed Pokémon roared out against the assault as its health fell away, leaving its body to upheave and fall to the ground under the strain.

Blinking with stark surprise, Cole scrambled for two empty Pokéballs out of his bag as Scyther broke away from its grounded opponents to gather composure against a far tree. Two red and white balls cascaded across the grassy area to strike at both Venusaur and Sudowoodo, enveloping them in a red aura amidst hopes of sealing them within their inner walls…

All at once, the shaking stopped, killing that faint crimson.

"Hugh…" came a low breath as Cole dropped to the ground, his fingers burrowing through stalks of leafy grass. A relieving sigh emerged from his lips as his eyes slowly took on a hint of glazed wonderment. _I'm… kinda tired…_ he thought hollowly, his gaze drifting past the two red and white balls that had just recently stopped twitching with a crimson glow.

The heavy panting of Cole's mantis Pokémon pulled his eyes toward the wearied creature, revealing that its legs had buckled into a hunched posture.

Blinking, Cole realized how much more taxing the battle must have been for Scyther than for him, and an ardent expression of sympathy rose out of his face. "Take a rest," he muttered as a red beam enveloped the creature's emerald exoskeleton, pulling Scyther into its Pokéball.

For a time, Cole only sat there with his elbows propping up his upper body and both legs sprawled out ahead of him. A light breeze grazed over the small clearing, gently caressing all reaches of his face. He squinted towards the bright sky, a few puffy clouds greeting him with bloated grins, and figured it to be nearing the middle of the day. _I guess…_ came a wandering thought, _I guess I'm not such a failure at this as I thought I was…_ It was strangely encouraging, he realized, which was strange, given his current situation. A small grin poked out of the side of his lips as he heaved himself back to his feet. Halfway to standing, he stopped.

A low pulse vibrated through the ground, tickling the tip of his one knee still touching the ground. Like a series of tremors, the vibrations came in waves. He remained utterly motionless, save the curious eyes darting all over the grass in front of him as his mind tried to fit this development into some half-realized puzzle. His ears strained for answers, but could only vaguely catch hint of a distant hum behind the forest's music. The vibrations grew steadily larger as Cole tried to return motion to his body. Standing fully, he swallowed hard against the deserted taste in his mouth and began a slow walk towards his two, newly captured Pokémon.

Suddenly, the ground twitched all at once, making him stumble past the step he'd completely missed. Craning his neck backwards, Cole glared into the deepening forest, a heavy grinding sound garnering strength with each passing second. The pupils in his eyes contracted as a horrifying sense of familiarity struck him. _It can't-!_ shouted a panicking thought, forcing his body to leap forward on all four before he could get to both legs. _It can't…! Again?!_

Behind him, the wall of trees at the edge of the clearing lurched upwards, sending hunks of greenery and foliage spiraling off in all directions as an enormous figure crashed through the earth. Amidst the chaotic combination of terror and curiosity and adrenaline surging through his head, Cole could hardly manage an instant's glance at the emerging object, but that single moment, that one piece of a second where his eyes frozen open as wide as humanly possible, seemed as if all the time in the world had suddenly stopped. A vibrant, unmovable image burned itself into his mind.

An enormous drill, caked with crumbling layers of mud and dirt, obliterated the forest's attempts to bar its path, sending earthen debris tumbling all around it. Spiked and barbed, the massive drill roared through the densely packed wood, echoing for what must have been miles. The small cockpit at the very rear of the tunneling vehicle retained an impenetrably black glass to shield its occupants, however, as Cole stared at it, he wasn't particularly concerned about seeing the faces of the individuals within. Perhaps it was due to the distraction provided by the machine's grinding bellow, or the pulverizing trail left in the wake of its conveyor-belt wheels, or the screaming razor blades extending out from its sides via flexible poles; but in the end, Cole didn't find himself dwelling on the _why_ for much longer than an instant. And when the monstrosity's golden-brown frame finally broke all the way through the forest floor to settle into a brief moment of peaceful recon, Cole found his legs thinking much further ahead than his brain.

He ducked down in the midst of his dash towards safety, scooping up his prized captures. Fumbling to holster the pair of contracted Pokéballs into their positions at the back of his leather belt, his eyes veered from his path for a second. His eyes snapped back into place, only to see an untimely tree trunk suddenly right in front of him. His body reacted with a violent jerk to the left, leaving his right shoulder to crash into the side of the tree, propelling Cole from to the side and into a cluster of bushy foliage. "Agh…" came his harsh groan as he shook the haze out of his vision.

Trembling ground forced his mind to focus again, and the roar of the mechanical drill made Cole flail himself back to his feet. His eyes darted backwards, and to his dismay, it seemed as if he had indeed been spotted. The massive object tore across the earth towards him, apparently unhindered by nature's friction.

Fear stained the lining of his stomach, extending all the way up his throat as Cole broke away, deeper into the forest. His body moved seemingly without effort or thought, spurred on by its own instincts. His legs bounded over the uneven terrain; his eyes darted wildly in all directions, looking for terror in unlikely places. His arms seemed to flail more than pump, panic spilling through his face. Stray leaves and low branches obstructed his vision, however that didn't seem to worry his legs, as the muscles only strained for more strength.

He ran without even the faintest thought of stopping; he ran even when he couldn't catch sound of the malicious digger anymore. The mere thought of what could have happened terrified him. His own fear confused him, but that only seemed to make it worse.

His burning legs finally slowed, but he still didn't stop completely. And as his strained ears only caught sound of the blood pounding through his own head, Cole's mind gradually began to reform int a conscious awareness. Beads of sweat gathered along his forehead as his eyes drifted off into a distant gaze at nothing. _Why… why am I so afraid?_ a thought asked him, his legs still carrying him onward. _I suppose, now that I think about it, running was the best option, considering how weak all of my Pokémon must still be… but…_ He squinted through his empty gaze, searching for the right words. _Just then… just now… was I even myself?_ It was a strange question, he realized; however, there seemed to be something behind it. _I didn't even bother to consider what else I could have done… I was so afraid…_ He trailed off, not wanting to finish with what he was thinking to be true. But the thought still dangled in his mind, trying to finish itself, as if aware of its own importance. _I… was so afraid… it was…_ The temples at the edges of his forehead tightened with his clenched teeth. _It was like nothing else mattered._ He blinked, his eyes returning to see the forest break away from his vision.

Light poured into his pupils as the darker forest fell away behind him, revealing the distinct charcoal-color of pavement.

"A road," came a pair of obvious words from his lips. "It's paved, too…" His eyes wandered over the chiseled path, making vague assessments. "It must be used pretty often, if it's paved…" Somehow, this discovery left Cole with little enthusiasm. Something felt a bit off, not entirely wrong, but just… off. And as he placed his hands on his hips, gazing up and down the elongating road, the indistinct feeling suddenly grew much larger.

"…Wait…" Cole mumbled as he moved his right hand back along his belt, letting his fingers gloss over the small spheres fastened there. "Hm." Still unsure about the problem, he unhooked the Pokéballs to stare at them. _My three Pokém…_ The last word was left unfinished as his eyes widened.

There were only two.


	4. A Lost Cause

**_Part IV: A Lost Cause_**

**Wednesday 13:13 GMT // 1:13 PM**  
**T**he lone Pokéball lie there, stranded. Nestled up against a thick obtrusion of root, its crimson-white exterior shone through a thin layer of unearthed dirt. Streaks of light poured down from open patches in the leafy canvas above, making the ground dance with speckles of light as an intimate breeze tickled the surrounding trees. A hollow silence had washed over the area, leaving only the whisper of wind; everything seemed to have been left in a frozen silence after the calamitous drill had ceased spinning.

A black-gloved hand reached through a wall of underbrush to grasp the lost sphere, pulling it away from the ground's clutching trails of unsettled dust.

Through the rustling of lower foliage, the gloved hand led up to the blackened silhouette of a standing individual. Even with the bright afternoon sun hanging above the forest, the dense treetops still thoroughly blocked most daylight from entering, leaving only visible streams of light raining down to the ground.

The distant voice of a woman broke the stale silence. "You find anything?"

The unnamed individual paused, hesitating with the discovered Pokéball in his hand before spouting back an answer. "Nothing over here." A man's voice.

"Alright, then let's head back to base," replied the woman.

"Roger," the shadowed figure agreed, contracting the ball into a miniaturized state before stuffing it inside his vest. Forcing through a thick of ragged overgrowth, he stepped out into the large clearing from which his group's vehicle had chased the intruder. The giant digger's drill sat unmoving in the center of the defoliated area, sleeping amidst tall grass like some dormant beast.

Bathing sunlight revealed the man to be wearing a bleached white mask. A pair of smooth, semi-circular dots engraved in front of his vision streaked off to either edge of the mask, forming large, spoon-like shapes. A definitively red line ran directly downward from each eye, and a short, flat line just above the lowest rim seemed to represent a mouth. A wide nose projected from the center of the mask, and vaguely giving the impression of a lion's. Short, jet-black hair topped his head, providing a strange illusion of spikes jutting out of the oddly designed mask. From the neck down, however, this person was more like a dark smear against the more effervescent environment around him. A black vest coat with only a single, dark red slash across the chest combined with a perfectly matching undershirt, fitted pair of slacks, and soft-leather boots.

"Ugh," groaned another voice towards the other end of the clearing, "I don't see why we have to patrol such a remote area as this... " The voice took presence from another man, also bearing a mask over his face; however, his bore a broad, smiling mouth wrapped in black and crimson. The deep indigo stripes on his cheeks ran straight backwards, and the nose was more reminiscent of a monkey's, but the mask still featured those exact same eyes. But aside from the mask, the only difference between him and the first man were the blonde spines of hair protruding out from atop his head.

"Orders are orders," said the same womanly voice from before as the three individuals came together a few meters away from their enormous drill. "Just do what you're told, Harland. You might live a little longer." Her uniform remained congruent with that of the two men, only just narrowly fitted for a woman instead. She wore the third and final mask of the group, and it kept its own unique traits about it as well; the mouth twisted downwards into an unsettling frown, and the stripes on either side of the face held a vibrant green to them as they ran down diagonally towards the non-existent corners of her mask. The nose also had its own distinction, forming more towards that of a dog. And yet, she too, held the exact same black strokes in place of eyes.

"I'd rather live _a lot_ longer, thank you very much," the mid-sized man, apparently named Harland said. "But seriously, this place is so remote, why would it even matter if there was some kid wandering around here?" Folding his arms, he tilted his head downward, as if thinking.

"I don't care if it matters," the woman told him impatiently, "Just get in the _Tunneler_ so we can head back, already." Motioning for them to follow, she moved towards the earthy machine to fiddle with a latch at its rear before thrusting a wide cargo door open.

Stepping through the tall grass, the original man noticed Harland approaching him. _More words of wisdom…_ he thought wryly as the other man came to stop.

"Don't tell me Leon's all about the mission, too…" Harland muttered, both hands trailing up behind his head. "If this thing could even be considered a real _mission_…"

"I wish you'd stop referring to me in the third person…" the man with the lion-nosed mask said. "It gets annoying after a while." 

"Heh, but that's the only way I can get you to say something. Otherwise you just stand there, acting all mysterious-like."

"…" Instead of replying, Leon only walked around his oddball comrade, heading for the tunneling vehicle. 

"See?!" Harland exclaimed, throwing his hands up as he watched the other man circumvent him, "Just like that! Happens every damn time…" Seeming a bit depressed by the lackluster emotion out of his fellow squad member, he hunched over a little as he dragged himself towards the machine. "Egh… I don't function well with people like this… even if I've known them for thirteen years now…"

**Wednesday 14:23 GMT // 2:23 PM**  
The vast road seemed endless. All traces of wind had died out some time ago under the sun's intensifying gaze. Massive trees lined both sides of the yellow-striped pavement, pushing inward with overhanging branches. Burdensome leaves trickled down to the ground every now and again, adorned with season's greetings of reds and yellows, oranges and browns. However, not all signs of green life had vanished, for that waning color could still be caught deeper within the forest's grasp.

Walking along the right shoulder of the highway, Cole's only gloved hand hung limply out to his left side, fixed into hitchhiker's position. _Gah…_ started an accurate thought, _That's two Pokémon I've lost now…_

Further ahead of him, his Scyther walked along at a quicker pace, apparently scouting around for threats or some such thing; it was hard to tell exactly what the giant mantis was thinking as it darted from side to side, its two bladed arms held back behind the brunt of that emerald exoskeleton. _I hope it's not looking for another fight_, Cole thought as he tilted his head, _It hasn't even recovered from that last battle…_

"Sudo-sudo-sudo-sudo," came the rhythmic voice of Cole's newly captured imitation Pokémon, "Woodo-woodo-woodo-woodo…" Its chanting continued as it danced openly, right in the middle of the road, shaking its olive branches like maracas as it kept pace with its trainer. Grinning all the while, its earthy brown body kept twisting around like some kind of crazed noodle monster.

_I just had to drop Venusaur instead of…_ Cole sighed to himself at the spectacle his energetic tree was making. His ungloved, right hand wandered into the mass of dark brown hair atop his head, as if trying to aid his brain with the process of thinking. _Ugh, so… I really have no idea if I'm headed to Ecruteak or Goldenrod, at this point. I got completely lost in that forest… _. A disgruntled expression came over his face, curling one end of his lips and bringing down an eyebrow. _Well… dang, is there even anything that I can d-?_ The sound of a something approaching from behind broke off his last inquiry.

Turning, he just narrowly caught sight of a flashy red vehicle barreling down the roadway. His bulging eyes turned to Sudowoodo, still consumed with its never-ending art of self-expression.

"Gah! Look out!" he shouted instinctively, fumbling for the tree's Pokéball. But it was too late.

A shuddering 'clunk' accompanied the silver bumper of the red convertible as it slammed headlong into Sudowoodo's backside, launching the unwary dancer several meters forward as the car screeched to a halt, invoking smoldering skid marks from its rear tires.

"…ohhhh… damn…" Cole muttered, twisting the last word's _a_-sound with a dangling jaw and half-extended, white-sleeved arm.

"Oh my gosh!" cried a young woman's voice, drawing eye towards the driver's side of the car, "Are you alright?!" Indeed it was a woman, dressed in some kind of skirt-suit combo, cut just below the thighs. Her thin-striped business jacket flared open to reveal a scarlet undershirt laden with intricate, rosy designs. Corner-sharpened shoulders led down to nearly full-length sleeves, stopping just before her jewelry-studded wrists. Heels supported her feet, clicking against pavement as she moved around the front of the vehicle.

Cole could only stood there on the side of the road, frozen in all mannerisms of thought and movement as a few half-words dribbled past his lips.

"Wha' 'appened…?" came a bleary groan from the back of the car. Another person Poked his head from the backseat, throwing his arm around the headrest of the driver's side as he unsteadily pulled himself up. "Whiieee 'ou shlam on da brayks sho shuddenly?" It was a young man, apparently, with glazed blue eyes and a decidedly less polished appearance, as compared with the woman who had been driving. Dirty blonde hair sprung out of his head in a messy bushel as he fumbled for a standing posture, blinking repeatedly.

Finally able to accumulate some full words in his mouth, Cole blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "What the hell, man!?" Rushing to the side of his road-smitten Pokémon, he couldn't help but notice that something was strangely amiss…

"Oh, my poor Rosy… You're not hurt are you? No scratches?" the young woman's voice range clearly through the air as she knelt down in front of her vehicle, caressing its glimmering bumper like some concerned mother. 

Cole quirked an eyebrow at the strange girl, trying to decide if she was marginally insane or just completely insensitive. "Um…" he began, still struggling for proper words, " …Why did you hit my Pokémon with your car…?" He felt strange, jumping in an out of anger and reserve, shock and confusion. It almost made him feel guilty, as if he should be the one to apologize.

"…What?" the girl asked, finally turning from the relatively unscathed front of the flaming red vehicle. Her face looked utterly surprised, perhaps to say that she had only just noticed the victim of her driving habits. Those cherry-glossed lips crinkled into a twisted position just as she was about to say something, but another voice cut her off.

"Gyeh…" started the young gentleman from the backseat as his fingers wrestled with something in his mouth, "…Bleh, you knocked my retainer out of place…" Placing a hand on the silver trim of the car door, he hopped over the obstacle to click his metal-tapped shoes against the street. "That was such a great dream too… until my face was smashed up against the car seat, that is." An incredibly plain t-shirt covered his slender figure, though its short sleeves left his bony forearms quite bare. Equally uninspiring slacks sheltered his legs, leading down to scruffy-white shoes. He blinked, suddenly, as if realizing something, and then bent over the side of the car to dig through the backseat, soon returning with a slim pair of lenses.

"Hey, I couldn't help it this thing suddenly jumped out in front of me…" the girl pouted, pointing towards the grounded Sudowoodo.

"What the heck did you hit, anyway?" the other boy asked, looking towards the heap of Pokémon with querying eyes.

"Ack," Cole jolted back as he realized what he should be concerned with, "Sudowoodo?! Are you okay?!" Kneeling down next to the fallen tree, he gingerly touched the back of its face-planted head. "Oh, don't tell me…" But before he could finish, the answer blew up in his face.

"Sudo!" came the Pokémon's cry as it sprang back up to its feet with that silly bleached grin, leaving a very awkward moment of silence as it stood frozen for a moment, pausing as everyone looked at it before resuming its dance. "Sudo-sudo-sudo-sudo…" Its shaking olive branches formed a sideways 'S' introverting in and out like some kind of robotic cheerleader.

"Ha!" shouted the plainly dressed boy with a laugh, "You hit a tree!" One hand clutched the edge of the car door as he cackled hysterically.

The girl's face scrunched up offensively at the other boy's open laughter. "Hey, that's not a…"

"You hit a freakin' tree!" he broke her off, not even attempting to hold back his amusement. "_Perfect-daughter Mabel_ drove mom's car into a freakin' tree!" He seemed far more delighted than what could be considered healthy.

"Shut up, Steven!" she snapped back at him, her dainty brow lowered with frustration.

_Well, at least she didn't kill that 'tree'…_ Cole thought with slight relief. "Um, excuse me," he decided to interject into their conversation, garnering strange looks from the pair, "But… who the heck are you!?"

They only stared at him, as if just realizing that he was there.

"Hello?" Cole asked, poking his head forward a bit. "You hit my Sudowoodo with your car…?" Quirking an eyebrow, he waited for a response, but only achieved an awkward silence of blank-faced stares. Sudowoodo's semi-distant chanting rang throughout the area.

"Wait…" Steven began, "That _tree_ belongs to you?"

Cole only nodded. _Eh, close enough…_

"So," the young man continued, his words starting to fracture into bits of laughter, "Mabel… actually crashed into a trainer's Pokémon?!"

Nodding again, Cole turned his eyes towards the girl, wondering how the driver would handle the situation.

"…Oh… migosh," she blurted, staring further down the road at the dancing imitation Pokémon, "…That thing scratched my poor Rosy!"

"Wha?" Cole's face twitched as her words registered. "Where do you get off?! Blaming the victim of your reckless driving?!"

"Reckless?!" Mabel spun around to look at the trainer directly, "Why the heck was that thing in the middle of the road, anyway?"

His face tightened at her question. "Drivers are supposed to watch for pedestrians!"

"Aha… he's got a point, sis," Steven broke in, "You probably shouldn't have been doing your make up in the rear-view mirror…"

She opened her mouth to retort the remark, but paused, apparently thinking. " Hey, you were sleeping, so how would you know?" Suspicion narrowed her eyes.

"Because," her sibling explained, "That's what you were doing the last three times you nearly ran mom's car off the road." He folded his arms, as if to accentuate the strength of his argument.

"…Ah," she paused again, before continuing, "Well… okay fine, so I took a moment to _glance_ at the mirror and check my make-up…" Her manicured hand flicked a bit of long, honey blonde hair that had crept over her shoulder.

Cole extended a hand to regain their attention. "Look, I don't really care 'why' you hit my Sudowoodo. I only care what you plan on doing about it." Wearing an irritated expression, he let one eyebrow dip down expectantly.

"Eh, what do you want us to do about it, kid?" asked the brother of the two, "Your Pokémon seems just fine to me…" He motioned back behind Cole.

The creature popped up right behind its trainer, "Sssudoe!" It moved at random intervals, jerking one direction, then the other as that white-mouthed smile never left its face.

"Well… uninjured at least…" Steven commented, a queried look on his face, "What's it doing? The robot?" 

Suddenly, Sudowoodo stopped. For a second, everyone only stared in confusion as the odd creature only stood there on one of its toeless feet, frozen some kind of strangely posed statue. 

"Sssciieee…" came a low growl from across the other side of the road, revealing the presence of Cole's squatting Scyther. Its head cocked forward as both blades dug into the grassy earth below it, the hunting bug Pokémon looked on the verge of pouncing.

_Aw, no…_ chimed in a too-late thought.

The next few moments seemed to happen all at once. The mantis stretched back, then slung its body forward, tearing both scythes out of the ground amidst tangling strings of dirt and root; however, Sudowoodo clattered to the ground like a broken log, leaving Scyther to sail right over its head and directly into Cole's chest, propelling him and his flailing limbs to the ground.

"Agh…" the boy's groaning voice injected into a face full of pavement. Spitting pebbles from his mouth, Cole rolled over, forcing Scyther off his back so that he could yell at it. "Cut it the-heck-out! In the past two days, I've been robbed, chased, lost, chased again, and semi-robbed again! I do not need you trying to pick fights with your own teammates, dammit!" Restraining the urge to strangle the mantis with his bare hands, he snatched its Pokéball from his belt, and sucked the creature up through a beaming red straw. "And you!" he exclaimed, turning towards Sudowoodo so that he might scold it, as well. "S…" His words melted away before he could say them.

The fake tree Pokémon only lied there, motionless.

"Ah, then again…" Steven muttered, scratching the back of his head, "I suppose we could give you a lift to Ecruteak."

"What?" Mabel broke in, her face full of disapproval, "Why should we help this little klutz out?"

"Well, you pretty much ran over his Pokémon," the young man explained, "And besides… that Sudowoodo's more injured than it looks, apparently. I hadn't noticed it before, but there seems to be a large bruise on its back… probably from where you hit it with the car, sis."

Sure enough, when Cole looked more intently at the creature, he spotted a deeply colored mark on its back. Swollen and scratched, it was a wonder how Sudowoodo had even managed to stand... let alone dance.

Her furrowed eyebrows receded back as she took greater note of the grounded creature. Sighing, she nodded in agreement. "Fine, I suppose it would only be proper…"

A deep piping noise accompanied the Pokéball as it stored Sudowoodo away, but Cole hesitated. "You'll… give me a ride to Ecruteak City?" he inquired tentatively.

"Yeah," Mabel reassured him, "…What, did you need to go somewhere else?"

"Uh…" he stammered, suddenly feeling a heavy weight in his chest, as if telling him to hold back. _If I go…_ His eyes wandered up towards the direction from which he had come, looking hollowly at the wall of forest from where he'd been expelled. And as he stared at those seasoning trees, Cole came to a realization. _If I go… If I get in that car and leave for Ecruteak… I'm not coming back…_ When he was merely walking along the road before, it hadn't occurred to him exactly what it was that he was doing. _Abandoning Venusaur…_ Hiding the emotions wrestling behind his eyes, Cole swallowed hard. His fists clenched as his chocolate-brown irises hid behind their eyelids, warding off specks of salty tear. _I'm… such a…_ Decisive words spilled out of his mouth, "Take me to Ecruteak."

_…coward._

**Wednesday 14:30 GMT // 2:30 PM**  
"Agh," Harland grunted as he stepped out of the _Tunneler_, his blackened leather boots tapping softly against a hard-paved stone. "Home sweet home, eh?" A sour grin crossed his lips as he eyed the cargo hangar of the team's base.

For this enormously rectangular room, there were three levels. The Strike Team, that is Harland's trio, currently stood within the lowest level, which had been built for vehicles that thrived below the surface, such as the _Tunneler_ or an aquatic vessel. Numerous large machines resided across the tile stone floor, some propped up into the air by large platforms with mechanical crews hovering around them like bees. Oval-shaped lamps dangled down from a forty-foot ceiling, providing more than enough light for the windowless area. The far wall, constructed of heavy irons and steels, opened into a large cave, through which digging machines could pass in order to reach the hangar. Sentries stood on high platforms at either end of the steel door, keeping watch over the gate to avoid any ill-conceived plans of infiltration. The opposing end of the room retained several steeply carved flights of stairs, as well as a pair of large elevators, presumably for transporting materials or heavy machinery. At the center of the level, there resided a water-filled hole, engraved into the floor to provide a separate entrance for underwater vehicles. Coming up from a long column of security checks, the tiny lake retained a good number of back-up vehicles around it, mostly reserved for emergencies

The second level of the room was for terrestrial machines, and its hangar door opened out to a secluded road, thoroughly hidden from the arterial roads surrounding the forest. This level held several machines with various functions, such as tree-cutters and land movers for demolition, large cranes and cargo trucks for construction, robotic tanks and other specialties for combat, or even a combination of purposes. This was by far the most active floor of the hangar area, as most of the organization's 'business' took place with land-based missions in mind.

And the third level, as one might imagine, was reserved for aircraft, but due to the massive expense of such machines, along with the relatively low usage of them, only a few small planes ever docked here. Usually referred to as the 'Sky Port' by the members of the organization, the flooring of this third level extended outwards, beyond its own hangar door in order to provide a longer runway for landing planes. Helicopters, on the other hand, could enter through a retractable portion of the ceiling.

Combined, the three floors created one of the largest hangars ever built. It was a shame that the general public would probably never learn of this place's existence.

Harland looked at his two comrades expectantly, hoping for some sign of agreement to his remark, but their sterile masks provided more response. "Damn, is Leon starting to rub off on you, Alex?" he asked as the small group started their walk away from the tunneling machine.

"Would you just shut up already?" the harsh-toned woman replied, "And stop calling me _Alex_, already. It's _Alexandra_." She didn't even bother to look at him, perhaps because she could already guess what his response would be.

"Nah, I like Alex better," he told her, smiling behind his monkey-nosed mask.

"_You_ like it better? It's my name! I get to decide!"

"Eh," Harland shrugged, "But Alexandra's so much longer… Alex is easier to say. Plus it sounds way more friendly."

"You think I want to sound friendly?"

"It's because you don't act friendly that I have to call you that," Harland explained, "Your personality's already shot, so I've got to pull it out of you any way I ca-" He just barely ducked under her black-gloved fist as it came barreling towards his face.

"Just shut up, you moron!" The irritation on her face seemed to be permeating through her frowning mask.

_Heh_, Harland chuckled to himself at the response he'd achieved. "Thanks for proving my point, _Alex_." He couldn't help but smile; he loved getting her worked up all the time. However, at his last comment, she only folded her arms and spun back around, walking onward just as silently as Leon.

"Oh, the silent treatment, eh?" Shuffling in behind his two squad members, he stared intently at the backs of their heads for a moment, trying to decide if he should attempt to annoy them further. _Gah…_ he started to think, _Why do I have to be grouped with these anti-socials…?_ His head drooped down at the melancholy reality. _I'm not good at giving people their space…_ "You guys suck," he finally resided, falling a couple steps behind as they passed through the large doorway to the main facilities. And as he walked on, silence riddling his head, he couldn't seem to shake the reminiscing thoughts from his mind...

_…It was so dark. It was so quiet…_

No light entered the small boy's vision as he sat there, his arms wrapped tightly around his bundled legs. It had been so long; he could hardly feel the tears streaming down his face, soaking those trembling knees below. His eyes refused to blink, afraid that they might miss the tiniest morsel of light. Pupils dilated into the size of marbles, the crippling panic within his mind seemed omniscient; even after all this time, that forlorn, secluded fear still plagued his thought.

It was utterly silent, as if everything had ceased to exist. No wind, no rustling, no breath, no sound; even his own heart seemed to have stopped, suspended in a moment without life. His ears were useless, but beyond that, almost any sensation of feeling was gone; nerve cells all across his body had failed, leaving an empty world around him, void of nearly all perception. It seemed that cruel fate had decided to leave him with just barely enough sense to know of his own lost existence.

…It was so dark. It was so quiet… It was so… lonely.

…Harland's eyes twitched back to the present, glazing over the metal-stone lining of the elongated corridor. His _companions_ walked directly in front him, the sound of each step reverberating off those smooth-cut walls. Various rooms and passages hooked off and away from the main hallway, and bleached light filtered down from the domed ceiling with a penetrating gaze. The floor's cold acrylic took on various gray-blue shades as its numerous lines led the eye towards the Commander's room at its farthest edge. Windows seemed like a distant memory in this underground level, but flickering monitors could be found in abundance as the corridor bloated in and out of itself at regular intervals. Fellow members passed the small entourage, fully clad in standardized, jet-black attire. It was all too familiar for him, leaving his mind to wander back into his isolated memories…

_"…regained awareness of his environment?" mumbled a dull voice._

"Yes, it seems that way," answered another faceless tone.

Harland's vision blurred into a bleary amalgamation of melting colors; fuzzy lights and shadows moved around in front of him while stinging contrasts between fierce heat and burning cold punctured nerve endings all across his body.

"Why did his body react so violently to the substance?"

"It's hard to say," explained a deeper voice, "The structure of the pathogen seems to mutate according to changes in its environment… Perhaps that's why we've achieved such different results with a few of our subjects."

"But almost all our subjects have been human clones, so how could the results vary so much?"

"It would seem that even the slightest differences in their DNA trigger a response from the microorganism."

"Yes. However, the mutation is often too dramatic for the host body… resulting in death…"

The voices droned on, their words practically meaningless to Harland's ears as he lied there on the testing room's icy floor. Shivering, he was finally starting to feel himself regaining some sense of what was happening around him.

"…It may also be a factor that most all of the subjects have been clones," interrupted another voice, "The one subject that was not a clone, a little girl I believe, survived with only mild forms of seizures, whereas only five percent of the cloned subjects even survived the initial injection. Still less stabilized afterwards."

"Yes, that could be, but I don't believe that is conclusive enough evidence to assume…"

...The pair of staircases on either side of the hall receded past his vision as Harland drifted back to himself. Giant double-doors came up on the group, inscribed with the insignia of the Commander: two intertwined snakes. Each cobra stared the other down, glaring intently as if waiting for just the right moment to strike.

The Commander, the highest-ranked officer within the entire facility waited just beyond those doors.


	5. A Forgotten Dream

**_Part V: A Forgotten Dream_**

**Wednesday 14:43 GMT // 2:43 PM**  
**T**he enormous doors let out a bellowing groan as they slowly pulled themselves open. Their deep rumbling made them seem ancient compared to the rest of the facility, and as those thick slabs of metal and concrete moved out of the small party's path, a figure became apparent from under the receding shadow.

Starting from a pair of heavy, buckled work boots, Alexandra's eyes moved upward to see a raven trench coat streaked with white and silver across the chest. The coat cut away from the arms earlier than expected, revealing longer, indigo sleeves underneath. Midnight blue shoulder plates stood next to the high collar guarding the man's neck, and a thin pair of jet-black sunglasses just barely hid his eyes. Equally dark hair protruded from his head in short spikes.

"Ah, if it isn't everyone's favorite Strike Team!" the man nearly shouted from behind his flaring collar, "I trust your mission was a success?"

"Captain Toc?" Leon was the first to pipe up, oddly enough.

"What, you're surprised that a guy like me has business with the Commander?" Toc asked with a phony expression of offense.

"...no, it's not that... I was just..." Leon's head tipped a bit downward as he fumbled for an answer.

"Hey, don't be so serious," Toc went on, stepping closer to tap Leon's shoulder, "I'm just messin' with ya!" An open grin plastered on his face, the Captain of the Third Division seemed to be in good spirits, as always.

Alexandra only stood there, watching with a sour face hidden behind her mask. _I'll never understand why Leon speaks to Captain Toc more than anyone else... They're so completely different..._

"But, I don't wanna keep you from your report," the man said, "I'll see ya guys later." And with that, he gave a quick nod to the group before moving past them to shuffle off to his next destination.

"How can someone who dresses like that be so..." Harland trailed off half-heartedly, almost seeming depressed for some reason.

"He's not that different from you," Alexandra pointed out, "Neither of you take anything seriously."

"Hmph," Harland spouted back, "...whatever..."

She blinked at his unexpected response. _...I was sure he'd be blabbering some nonsense about how wrong I was..._ But, she soon dismissed the thought as nothing important. _Reporting to the Commander takes priority_. "Let's go, you two." She didn't even wait for a reply before heading through the wide entry.

The Commander's enormous office looked as broodingly dark as ever. A few dimly lit lamps clung to distant walls, and a large desk at the center of the room retained a light source of its own. Various pieces of armor and weaponry dotted the walls, helping to illuminate the room with their shimmering reflections, yet the air still seemed thicker here. The floor was practically a hole in one's vision, aside from a few specks of what might have been a highly intricate design, if it had been more discernable.

"Commander," Alexandra started, placing a fist over her heart, "We have come to give our report."

The man sitting behind the wide desk looked up, his figure still smothered in shadows. "You were only assigned to find an artifact using the _Tunneler_. What is that requires you to report to me personally?" His voice could've broken stone as it seemed to reverberate through the room.

"There was an intruder, sir," she explained.

"An intruder?"

"Yes, sir. There w-"

"Yeah, it was just some little, punk kid," Harland broke in, impatiently, "He ran away as soon as we got close."

"Then, forget it," the Commander said.

"...Yes, sir," she acknowledged as she shot Harland a hard stare, hoping that it would somehow penetrate through the mask on her face.

"Ah, but it's convenient that three of you have come. Your next mission has been decided."

_Already? We usually have two or three weeks between missions..._ But she didn't let any sign of her surprise show.

The Commander stood up from behind his desk, leaving only his mid section to be illuminated by the desk light. "This next mission will be of the utmost importance." His voice grew heavier as he moved around the polished wood structure. "You three are to infiltrate an underground research facility."

_...'infiltrate'?_ She blinked away the stray word, trying to focus.

As he approached the group, a dark gray folder appeared in his right hand. "...Furthermore, you are to retrieve any evidence or information regarding the matters outlined in this file." Standing directly in front of Alexandra, he handed the folder to her before going on. "These documents will provide you with all the details you will require." Even at that relatively short distance, his features remained hidden; the man seemed to emanate shadows. "Also, bear in mind that the information within that file is classified, and therefore not to be discussed with anyone outside of your team."

"Yes, sir," she confirmed for the three of them.

The base leader turned around to walk back behind his desk before going on, "The operation will commence in two days. Be fully prepared."

Leon spoke up with a question, "Where is this underground facility located, sir?"

"...Ecruteak City."

**Wednesday 15:04 GMT // 3:04 PM**  
Cole only stared at the back of the leather headrest in front of him, eyes half-closed from the sullen feelings depressing his mind. Impressive wind rustled through his hair as the red convertible sped down the open road, but he didn't seem to notice it all. Mabel and Steven sat in front of him, conversing about some thing or another, yet Cole's eyes wouldn't be drawn away from their emptied gaze.

_…Why?_ his mind broke the question. _Why am I so afraid?_ His brow sunk lower as he ignored a shiver running down his back. _It's just… I mean… they took Vulpix, but… shouldn't I be more angry?_ It was an odd thought, he realized. _Am I really such a simple coward?_

"Hey, you okay back there, man?" It was Steven, looking back at him from the front passenger's seat. "What's with your face? You look like your best friend just died…"

"Heh heh…" Cole chuckled back, fraught with a melancholic tone. _…Maybe he did…_

The other boy quirked an estranged eyebrow at Cole's response. "Dude, don't take this the wrong way… but you're a hitchhiker, alright? If you start acting all creepy, you're walking. I don't care if my sis ran over your _grandmother_." A firmly set expression stared back at Cole.

"…Sorry." His distressed word seemed enough to satisfy the young man, and after Steven had turned around, Cole let his eyes wander off to his left, where a window might have been if not for the receded roof. The density of the forest had begun to fall away, suggesting that they would reach Ecruteak soon. _Heh…_ started a remorseful thought, _Yet another chance to go back and I pass it up… How pathetic._

**Wednesday 15:16 GMT // 3:16 PM**  
The stale light flicked on as Alexandra entered her private quarters. It was only marginally larger than the average member's. A mid-sized bed and pair of shelves summed up just about everything that could be considered hers. From here, everything seemed entirely cold and gray. The concrete walls were about as welcoming as the mask she wore, and aside from the few knickknacks she'd managed to accumulate during her ten years with the organization, this room could just have easily been someone else's.

Her eyes wandered to the small objects bunched together upon the right most shelf, and suddenly she began to wonder why she had even bothered collecting anything at all. Some were purely junk, remnants of past missions that hardly meant a thing to her anymore, let alone anyone else. _It only seemed natural…_ she supposed to herself. And then, for a moment, she felt starkly out of place; as if her existence here, in this small room, was wrong. As if she had missed out on something so obvious to everyone else, and yet still had no idea what it could have been…

The door slid shut as she placed a hand up to her forehead, trying to suppress the confusing thoughts stirring in her mind. She moved to her bed and sat down, pulling open the folder that the Commander had given her. She didn't want to think right now; it only felt burdensome when she pondered her reasons for being here. _I'll never be able to leave, so it doesn't even matter…_ All she wanted to do was focus on the task she was given; that's what soldiers did, after all. Her eyes skimmed over the text, taking in the necessary information.

Mission Objective: Procure any and all data pertaining to _Project Alphos_ from the underground research facility located beneath Klandstein Tower in Ecruteak City.

Project Alphos was originally a joint effort operation by Klandstein Co. and _Rocket Research_ in hopes of finding ways to revive extinct Pokémon, however since that time Klandstein Co. has severed ties with _Rocket Research_.  
The current status of Project Alphos remains unclear, and therefore, the difficulty of this mission is unknown.

'_Unknown'…_ Her eyes narrowed at the word. _Strange that the intelligence division could not acquire more information, especially considering Klandstein used to work so closely…_ She gave a slight shake of her head as she realized that she had stopped reading.

If it becomes apparent that Project Alphos has reached its final stages, meaning that an ancient Pokémon has indeed been revived, the priority of the mission should be to capture it. If capture becomes impossible, then the target should be destroyed. If there are multiple targets, capture as many as possible and destroy the rest.  
-In the event that the infiltration unit is discovered, all witnesses should be eliminated.  
-In the event that a squad member should die or become too injured to continue, the remaining squad members should proceed with the mission objective.   
-In the event that a squad member should be captured, the remaining members should consider the captive member a threat to the mission objective and eliminate the captive by any means necessary.

…_Turn against our own…_ She was unsure of what to think. It had been a number of years since a condition like this had come up, but even then, it had not been necessary to act on it. _…Will this time be different?_

This rest of the documentation went on to state the classified nature of the mission, but Alexandra had begun to wander again. _…Will I… have to kill one of them?_ It was a difficult question, she realized. The lingering feelings in her mind made it difficult to answer truthfully, but she knew what she would have to do. _A soldier does not question orders…_ It was a statement she'd learned quite a long time ago…

_"…A soldier does not question orders, Alexandra." The man's voice was perhaps the harshest thing she'd ever heard in her young life. "Do not ask why you are given a task. Only know that it is yours to fulfill to the best of your abilities." Standing there, towering over her, was the man who had raised her for as long as she could remember. He stared through the enormous security window with that never-changing grimness embedded into his face. On the other side was the testing room: a bloodstained chamber wrought with the stench of death._

_"…but," the small girl began, "…h-how come that boy took the same medicine as me…? And how come he's just lying there…?" Her airy voice shook, but she didn't know why. She didn't understand why children were being given medicine. She didn't understand why the small boy in the testing room had suddenly stopped moving after he'd bee yelling so loudly. And she didn't understand why she wasn't feeling anything…_

_"He's dead," the man said coldly._

_"…W-what?"_

_"This is something you need to see, Alexandra." His stony face turned downward slightly to look towards her. "This is what death looks like."_

_"…B-but," she sputtered, still full of confusion, "…what happened to him?"_

_"He wasn't strong enough," he told her. "He wasn't like you, Alexandra. He was too weak." The man looked up to see a doctor walking into the room._

_"Actually, it had nothing to do with his physical state, Commander," the scientist said, pushing up on a thick pair of glasses with his index finger. "Gene separation would kill any-"_

_"He was too weak!" the man practically shouted back. "He wasn't strong enough, and that's why he's dead. Don't ever forget that, Alexandra…"  
_  
…She closed the folder as the memories faded. _Can I really live up to the Commander's expectations?_ The overhead light clicked off as she left the room to go brief her team.

**Wednesday 15:57 GMT // 3:57 PM**  
The sun had begun to linger over the horizon as the afternoon fell towards the evening. The forest had receded back down the road as the ornately red convertible sped by the sign marked 'Now Entering Ecruteak City'.

A sudden sense of life seemed to flow over Cole as his eyes looked up from their sunken state; the encompassing cityscape made his eyes widen with a renewed vigor. Buildings rose up towards the center of the town, while the outskirts seemed to be reserved for more residential areas. Streets were filled with various peoples, many of which were selling one thing or another, while the hustle and bustle of the world around them pressed ever onward. A distinct liveliness gripped the town, bringing back that feeling that Cole had lost while wandering through the forest all day. It certainly felt refreshing.

"Hey," Steven started, "You ever been here before?"

"Ah, no, I don't think so," he replied, holding a small grin on his face. It was times like this that made him remember why he had wanted to set out on a journey in the first place. "I didn't think Ecruteak was this big, actually..."

"Haha, people say that all the time," Mabel threw over her shoulder. "Seems like everyone thinks of Ecruteak as just some little town across the street from Goldenrod."

"Yeah," Steven added, "But Ecruteak's got a buncha great places to go and see." He pointed off towards a distant tower. "See that? That's the famous Brass Tower. And over there-" his finger swept east over the horizon to point out another skyscraper "-that's Tin Tower."

"Hm," Cole began, "I think I've heard of those before... Aren't there a bunch of ghosts in the one that caught on fire?"

"The Brass Tower, yeah," Steven elaborated, "Ghost _Pokémon_, actually. Supposedly, they're a part of the Ecruteak Gym or something... I don't really know the details, to tell you the truth."

_Ghost Pokémon..._ "Hm, I'll keep that in mind." He nodded before thinking of another question, "So, will you just drop me off at the Pokémon Center, then?"

"Well, actually..." the young man started.

"Sorry, but we're in a bit of a rush," Mabel broke in, "You can have your Sudowoodo treated at our facilities inside the estate."

"...'The estate'?"

"Oh, that's right... we forgot to mention..." Steven began explaining as he turned back around to look out the front window, "...Our family's loaded."

Cole blinked, a little taken aback by his bluntness.

"We're part of the Klandstein Family."

"Klandst…" Cole half-repeated, trying to remember where he'd heard the name before, "…Wait… you mean that huge company that researches Pokémon?" Surprise pulled up his eyebrows.

"Yep," Mabel tossed over her shoulder as the car eased to a stop at a red light, "Mom and dad run the company together, and they're having a big dinner party at the estate tonight. We're supposed to be ready by five o'clock, so we're a little pressed for time."

"Oh…" Cole said, placing his hands back behind his head, "Well, as long as Sudowoodo is able to get help, I don't care." He sort of smiled, realizing that he'd suddenly been given a chance to attend a ritzy dinner party. Then an awkward thought spoiled his enthusiasm. "But uh… is it really okay for me to just… show up at your parents' big party?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Steven assured him with a vaguely mischievous grin, "We won't have to just sit around and listen to a buncha old geezers all night."

"Ah…" Cole stammered with a slight bit of laughter, "that's not really what I-" A heavy thud stole the rest of his words, but the following scream made him quirk an eyebrow.

It had come from Mabel, now fumbling with the buckle on her seat belt. "Ah! I hate spiders!"

"Wha?" the two boys blurted simultaneously.

"There's a spider on the windshield! Get it o-off!" She squirmed in the driver's seat, trying to wriggle out from under the seat belt that was keeping her pinned.

Craning his neck, Cole looked around the driver's seat to catch a glimpse of the problem. "Whoa!"

Sure enough, an enormous spider was sprawled across the windshield. Thick, black stripes broke up the red-orange on its segmented body. Yellow and blue enwrapped its long, skinny legs, as well as a rather strange-looking pair of… appendages jutting out of its back. A pair of beady, compound eyes dotted its smaller head section, just above two pincer-like mandibles. The small sac on the tip of its bloated abdomen hinted at an unpleasant surprise.

"Ew-ew-ew!" Mabel continued yelling, still struggling beneath her seat belt's vice grip.

"Well," Steven chuckled, "Ariados only have four legs, so I don't know if they really qualify as spiders." An obvious grin split his face as he only sat there with an inquiring hand tapped against his chin.

"Hate! Hate! _Hate_ spiders!"

"…She's not listening," Cole assessed, barely able to keep back his own smile. _…Spiders are kinda creepy, though… Heh, if that wasn't a Pokémon, I might be a little more…_ He trailed off when he felt the car shake against a pair of thuds from behind him. His head slowly pivoted around, finding what he'd suspected: two more Ariados. He unbuckled his own seat belt and stood up to face the creatures more defiantly. _Okay… so that's a little freaky, but I'm still…_

A silky web coated his face as another spider swung by his head. "Uwaaaah!" the yell belted out of his lungs almost instantly while his body flailed to undo the sticky ties.

Steven sighed as he saw Cole start freaking out as well, his hand wandering back behind him. "Alright… 'spose I better do something about this…" His hand returned with Pokéball as he unhooked himself from the seat. The sphere popped open into a red beam, soon subsiding into a large, pinkish figure.

"…Slow…" came a dull, dragging voice. Stumpy arms poked out from its chest, ending with three acute claws, while the tips of its heavy feet kept only two. A lightly colored belly was divided into striping segments, giving a vaguely lizard-like appearance to the creature. A tough, spiraling shell seemed screwed onto the end of its tail, and the vacant stare beneath those teddy bear's ears seemed almost stupefied for no apparent reason. "…bro…" it finally finished.

"Slowbro," Steven began, smiling again, "Please wash that kid's face off for him."

Water splashed against Cole's web-covered face, soaking the silky threads to where they could be pulled off with little effort. Breathing heavily, Cole took a moment to let his bulging eyes settle back into a more subdued state, resisting a shudder that was creeping up his spine. Then he took a moment to look around.

Dozens more Ariados littered the street, crawling over everything in sight. Sidewalks, trees, cars, buildings, even people were no obstacle. And as he looked up, Cole realized just how large this swarm of bug Pokémon really was. The spiders leapt from one towering structure to another, creating massive, sweeping webs. Sunlight sparkled through the ever-growing net of silk, creating an almost twinkling sky to shine down on the hapless citizens below.

People ran through the streets, getting jumped by multiplicities of the three and a half foot spiders. Yells and screams echoed over the chaotic traffic noises as those not held within the safety of a building or a car were ganged up on and netted by several of the creatures in only a matter of seconds.

"This is freakin' crazy!" Cole yelled at the swarm overtaking the area, hardly able to keep his balance as he stood in the back of the car.

"Oh my Go-hod!" came Mabel's cry once again. She'd finally managed to remove herself from the vehicle, but that didn't seem to calm her much. She only stared at the scene unfolding before the three of them, her eyes full of frightened awe.

Steven broke the frozen stasis that the other two seemed to be caught up in. "We need to get the heck outta here, you two. There's no way we can hold off so many of them for very long…"

"Aria!" came a number of disturbingly high-pitched cries, "Dos-dos!"

Cole's shoes hit the sidewalk as he saw more spiders scaling the gigantic bank in front of him. Those sharply pointed legs left tiny cracks behind as the creatures roamed along the building side.

_What the hell's going on here…?_ Cole thought, his eyes moving around, trying to make sure none of the spiders were too close. His hand touched the pair of Pokéballs at the back of his waist. _Sudowoodo's just too banged up, so that's outta the question… But, Scyther's probably still pretty tired, too…_ The features on his face wrenched around as he tried to decide. _…if only…_ He shook away the pessimistic thought brewing in his mind, trying to focus on the situation.

"Aria-dos!"

The curdling cry made Cole spin around, eyes bulging at the lunging group of Ariados. "Dammit!" he breathed, letting a Pokéball burst open in his hand as he leapt back into the abandoned convertible.

Scyther appeared from the ensuing crimson glow, its two blades held out to its sides. A fierce look burrowing into its face, the emerald creature only took a moment to glance at Cole before it sprinted towards the clump of attacking spiders.

_Hey_, Cole thought, fumbling for proper footing in the backseat _I didn't even tell it to attack yet…_

A powerful Slash erupted from Scyther's right arm, knocking back a slew of spiders, but still more leapt up to confront the mantis. They grabbed at its legs and torso, their poison-tipped mandibles gnashing in a hectic frenzy. Terrible hissing sounds rose out of those crazed faces, sending chills resounding throughout the area. More and more of them seemed to appear with each passing moment; it felt as if the entire city would be consumed by this ravenous wave of chaos.

"Swords Dance!" Cole commanded, letting his hands wander under the car seats in search of something useful.

An echoing cry burst from Scyther's mouth as its body cocked to the side for an instant, then thrust back in the other direction, spinning furiously while Ariados were sent cascading across street, toppling into sides of vehicles and buildings.

"Mabel!" Steven's voice pulled Cole's eyes away from his own battle. "Why are you just standing there?! Use your Pokémon already!"

She stood in the middle of the street, the spider-like creatures gradually boxing her in. Atop trucks and streetlights, they gained new vantage points at their chosen target; globs of gooey webbing littered the entire area, hanging down like vines from some exotic jungle. Yet she only stood there, frozen with terrified eyes embedded into her face.

"Mabel!" Steven gritted his teeth, looking back towards Slowbro as it mashed a large group of spiders into the windowed building with intense psychic force, leaving shards of broken glass clattering along the sidewalk. "Slowbro, help sis!" But his face seemed to already realize that the sluggish Pokémon would never be able to reach her in time.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the urgency in Cole's eyes spun back towards his own partner. "Scyther," he began, throwing a thumb over his shoulder towards Mabel, "Use Agility and protect her!"

The mantis nodded in confirmation as its whirling came to an abrupt stop, both of its scythe-arms retreating behind its shoulders. Its upper body ducked down right before those jade legs tore its body away from the concrete, leaving only an instant's afterimage of the creature as it bounded over the red car.

Spiders suddenly lurched toward her, only to be swatted back at the last moment as Scyther's solid form appeared again, standing in front of Mabel, blades spread wide. Shrieking hisses cut through all other commotion as the Ariados stared down their green adversary, inching forward with dangerous stances. Crawling out from under abandoned cars, appearing atop stagnant mailboxes, hanging down from intricately drawn webs; they closed in on the trembling girl and fierce-eyed bug from almost every possible direction.

_What the heck?_ Cole thought, looking around, _Why are they so focused on her?_ Most of them seemed drawn towards the young woman, as if she held some kind of alluring bait… _Does she have something they want?_

Multiple arachnids punched forth while others remained behind to shoot hindering strings of web.

No time to think, Cole blurted the first idea to reach his lips, "Combine your Slash and Wing Attack!" His eyes quirked out of phase as he hoped his partner understood what he meant…

Gummy webbing caked Scyther's arms as it crouched down, its translucent wings starting to beat furiously, sending heavy gusts towards the young woman standing directly behind. The attacking spiders again went to grab its legs, apparently trying to keep it from moving so quickly, but as the revving energy in its wings grew faster, its body began rising from the black pavement. Weighed down by its thrashing enemies, Scyther twisted its body around, just inches above the ground, throwing its tangled arms at the crazed spiders while its wings sliced through the String Shots tying it down. Webbing spewed in all directions as its beating wings mashed against the enemies attacks, but Scyther only kept pushing. Its arms took extremely wide swings with their Slashes as the whirring on its back fended off enemies as well. Ariados dropped from its body as Scyther swirled around with each new swing, letting it rise a few more inches until another spider latched onto it segmented body again.

Yet the encompassing shroud of Ariados still gained ground on the lone mantis Pokémon. By itself, Scyther could not keep protecting Mabel from all directions; it seemed only a matter of time before they simply overwhelmed it altogether.

"Psychic!" came an urgent yell from the edge of Cole's vision.

But as he was about to turn and see what was going on, the entire area surrounding Scyther and Mabel suddenly seemed to converge in on itself, stretching the images in his vision. A deep suction noise arose to shake the entire area.

In an instant, the air above the encircling Ariados erupted downward, exploding straight into the ground while everything outside this ring-shaped area rattled under the tremendous shockwave. Dozens of spiders flew in all directions, crashing straight through windows and concrete alike. Even the backend of a discarded delivery truck was crumpled and ripped off, still rolling along the side street as its contents fled all across the ground. A steeply

_Holy…_ Cole thought, dumbfounded by the sheer destructive power of the attack.

"C'mon, you guys!" Steven called out as he rushed towards Mabel, "I'm sure that won't keep them off our backs for very long. We need to go, now!" Scyther stumbled to the side, tangled in a slew of mucky web as the young man took his sister by the shoulders, looking right into her eyes. But his efforts seemed irrelevant.

Her eyes, brimming with salt-streaked water, were frozen open, trying to stretch the limits of which her face could sustain. Small shivers seemed to pulse through her contracted posture with each breath.

Cole's own eyes widened as he dismounted the vehicle. "W-what's wrong with her…?" Spiders still crawled past the edge of his vision, but they felt too far away to attack right away.

Her brother's face seemed to break apart as he looked at her. "Dammit… she's gone into shock…"

"…Sh-shock?" Hesitating in his steps towards the siblings, the other boy didn't seem concerned with trying to clarify Cole's confusion, but then something else took all attention away from them.

A pounding roar, as that of an engine, broke the relative silence that had taken the area. The group's attention turned towards a street corner as an elongated vehicle sped around the edge of the sidewalk, a few strings of spiders chasing a little ways behind. It was a brightly white limousine, weaving in between the mounds of rubble and abandoned cars that had accumulated along the street. Stopped traffic blocked most the road, so the vehicle kicked up onto the side street, screeching to a halt only a few meters away from the three older children. The back door swung open, revealing an elderly gentleman clad in a sharp business suit.

Steven spoke out first, more than a little surprise clinging to his tone, "D-dad?!"

**Wednesday 16:30 GMT // 4:30 PM**  
The last soldier protecting the king fell. His enemies had gradually begun working their way towards him, until the final move seemed imminent. The king's own men were not all vanquished, and yet they were too distanced from him to save him. It seemed the battle would soon be over.

"Checkmate," Alexandra said from behind her sad faced mask.

Leon only looked at the chessboard from his side of the game, examining the placement of each piece. Her word was a bit surprising to him. His black pieces had justly surrounded her white king, but somehow she had managed to conclude the game before him. The answer became apparent as his eyes fell upon the white rook that she had moved to the corner of the board. "…You have an odd strategy," he slowly told her, "You abandoned your king to lure my main defense away, counting on the fact that you would be able to take my king before I could take yours…"

"Correct," she confirmed as a matter of course. "The objective is to take the opponent's king, not to protect one's own. I was only attempting to achieve the desired results as quickly as possible."

_…The desired results?_ Leon repeated to himself, vaguely tilting his head.

"Actually," she continued, "This game is quite similar to our missions. You are given a goal and a set number of resources in order to achieve that goal." Leon almost thought he sensed a smile behind that pale white covering. "It is an amusing concept. Perhaps we can play again, sometime."

"…Perhaps," he replied, his eyes trailing back down to the board. _This is… similar to our missions? …Similar to real life?_ Looking at his fallen king, an uneasy feeling brushed his thoughts. _If the game had continued any further, both kings would be dead…_

Alexandra stood up from the small table to look around for a moment. The large library was as bustlingly quiet as ever. Numerous people filed about, moving between the enormous, oaken bookshelves that towered towards the high ceiling. Of course, there were no windows; this was a military facility after all, and windows would only be a weak point for attackers to exploit. Rustling papers and low humming voices left the ear with little to worry about. It seemed odd; from this room, one would hardly suspect this place of housing militaristic capabilities. Though, the uniformly black dress and war books might spoil that sensation for anyone who looked harder.

Leon stood up as well, realigning the pieces on the chessboard for whomever else might wish to play. _I don't think this game is as similar to real life as people sat it is…_ A wry expression coated his face as he finished, placing his own king back into position.

Then a beeping red flash at the base of Leon's glove shifted his attention. _An alert?_ Leon tugged back a little on his long sleeve to read the incoming message on the communicator strapped to his wrist.

Intruder has entered the Terrestrial Port. Find and capture immediately.

Squinting behind his mask, he looked towards Alexandra, but she was only flipping through a book she'd picked off the shelf. She hadn't received the message. _Solo, huh?_ His index finger tapped against the small device on his wrist, turning of the signal as he started for the side door. He didn't bother with a good bye. _They probably want to keep some forces on standby... in case one intruder suddenly becomes twenty_, he surmised to himself as he passed the receptionist's desk attached to the wall. _Seems like odd timing for a strike on the base, but..._ He kind of shrugged to himself, figuring there was probably more the situation than he cared to analyze. "Just follow the orders," he breathed, moving through the side exit's double-doors.

The livelier buzz in the hallway brought a slight air of urgency with it as numerous people darted off to Leon's right, the direction of the port's entrance. _They're not being as casual about it as I thought they were_, he quietly assessed to himself as he began walking again, _I wonder if the intruder is giving them more trouble than they expected…_

Heavy tiles remained silent against Leon's softly woven boots as he moved, his back to the sunlight pouring in from the courtyard that marked the center of the base's ground level. Intricate, black-iron lamps protruded from the walls, curving into distinctive figures. More and more people seemed to be rushing towards the same scene, creating a severe sense of urgency, until Leon finally felt like he should move more quickly.

The wide opening into the hangar fell away, and as Leon entered, he began to hear the fierce sounds of battle echoing throughout the wide chamber. A huge circle of individuals stuck to the center of the room, making the entire scene all the more curious. _Why are they just standing there?_

"Get back!" someone shouted, and the following heavy clash of metal on metal commanded his attention, bringing his legs to a sprint, but before he could get close enough to understand the situation, the crowd suddenly heaved up and darted away, all at once. Jet-black attire fled all around him, streaking by his vision as he pressed forward. He skidded to a halt as the heart of the matter became more apparent to him.

Captain Toc was there, standing opposite another man, facing him down with a pair of ten millimeter handguns straight out in front of him. Presumably the intruder, the other man was certainly a little different than Leon had expected. Ruffled, unkempt hair hung just above the man's eyes, and the tall, crimson collar at his neck was partially torn. Strangely enough, he wore a navy blue suit, or something close to it. The jacket remained flung open, revealing a slight bit of silvery plating over his vital points. His matching pants traced the rough shape of his legs, fitting loosely as they trailed down to darkly polished shoes. Altogether, he was a very scruffy-looking businessman, a bit loosened around the edges, but perhaps just as serious. In fact, the glimmer in those deeply hazel eyes seemed more than a little grave.

_Who is this guy?_ Leon asked himself as he came up behind the Captain, eyeing the short katana firmly held within the stranger's grasp. Everything paused for a moment as the two never broke eye contact, despite Leon's presence. _He's fighting Toc's guns with a sword…? Is he crazy?_

"Leo," Toc whispered without averting his gaze, "Stay back." His feet shifted ever so slightly.

"…Toc, I can-" But the Captain broke him off.

"You'll only get in my way," the man explained rather coldly. "Just let me handle this. I don't want to hit you by accident."

Leon paused, wondering if he should really let the man fight alone or not. _Hm, I guess he knows what he's doing…_ "Alright…" He slowly moved away, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. _I suppose Toc can handle himself._

Suddenly the intruder leapt forward, zigzagging towards Toc with his blade out to his side. A slew of bullets erupted from the Captain's guns as he skipped a few steps to the side, his trench coat flaring out behind him while the wild ping of ricocheted fire consumed the air. But the opponent had closed the gap between them much faster than expected, leaving the first sword slash at Toc to clip his left shoulder plate as he rolled backwards, tiny sparks flying away from him.

There was another pause as the two men regained their composure. The stranger's sword almost had an ethereal glow about it, making Leon wonder if there was something particularly special about the weapon. Its hilt bore no protrusion as most swords would, only retaining what looked like an acrylic handle leading to the blade's metal.

Standing back to his feet, Toc let his left-handed gun retreat within his coat, while he took a moment to fiddle with his right, changing ammunition.

_What's he doing?!_ Leon's mind shouted. _He doesn't have time to change ammo!_

His enemy quirked an eyebrow at the man's odd timing, but proceeded to take advantage of the moment nonetheless. The intruder shot forward, his blade pointed straight towards Toc's chest, while the Captain only focused on altering his weapon.

"Look out!" Leon couldn't restrain the words from his mouth as he darted forward to help, even though he knew that he would never reach the man in time. Then, everything happened at once.

A short blade slipped out from under Toc's left arm, narrowly deflecting the enemy's goring attack. That single instant off balance was more than enough time. "You lose, my friend," the Captain whispered, his right handgun firmly placed against the other man's chest. Point-blank, he pulled the trigger, sending the other man reeling backwards as three bullets pierced his thin armor. He only stumbled to the floor as his previously fierce eyes slid shut. The barrel of Toc's gun still smoldered as his opponent lied there, sprawled across the ground with his sword clattering towards Leon's feet.

_Wow…_ Leon thought blankly as he bent down to pick up the abandoned sword, _I didn't know Toc could move like that…_ Holding it with his right hand, the leather glove of his left hand traced the blade's edge.

"Such uncivilized tactics, as always," came a descending voice from the tall staircase behind Toc. "I do hope you didn't kill our poor guest with your barbaric ways." The haughty voice took presence from an admittedly effeminate man rounding the base of the stairs to talk more directly to Toc.

"Don't worry, Captain Nathaniel," Toc assured the odd man with that open grin of his, "He should still be lively enough to answer any of your _questions_." Though he smiled, it still seemed apparent to Leon that Toc had little like for this man. Perhaps it was in his tone of voice, or the way he twisted the last word in an almost disgusted manner…

Leon's eyes trailed back to the downed man. _Did those three bullets knock him unconscious…?_ Still holding the short katana out in front of him, he blinked at the peculiar shine emanating off its blade. _Hm…_ after a moment, he shrugged. _Free sword._ Turning away from the scene, he started the lengthy walk back to his own room.

**Wednesday 17:17 GMT // 5:17 PM**  
Silence filled the limousine. No one seemed to be in the mood for talking, despite the chaos that had broken out in the city. The luxuries provided inside the cabin went virtually unnoticed, even as Cole's eyes were fixed upon them. Perhaps it was because he was still worried about Mabel or maybe it was simply that the car was moving far too fast for him to fully relax, but whatever the reason, Steven and his father looked equally uncomfortable.

The roads were still laden with crazed Ariados, and traffic throughout the city remained locked up for miles. However, the driver didn't bother with conventional methods; in fact, the sidewalk was utilized more often than the road, speeding past abandoned cars blocking the way. Yet some roads still had too much interference to tread, oftentimes forcing the limousine to back up and look for another route. Obviously, it would take a bit longer to reach their destination, the Klandstein Estate.

"…Um," Cole finally began in a tremulous voice, breaking the sullen weight that had fallen on everyone's shoulders, "So… what's wrong with her, exactly…?" Unsure of whether not he really wanted to know, the young man squinted ever so slightly, as if bracing himself for some horrifying answer.

"Well…" Steven started, pulling wearied gaze away from the tinted window, "Like I said before, she's gone into shock." There was a short pause as he let his words sink in. "As you might have been able to tell earlier, Mabel is afraid of spiders…" He looked at his sister, sitting there next to him. She only stared emptily ahead, tears filling her unblinking eyes as her body shivered without end. "But it's more than that," Steven went on, "It's a very prominent _phobia_. She can't stand to be in the same room with the tiniest spider, even if it's kept in a container… I can only imagine what was going through her head when she saw hundreds of three-foot spiders swarming the city…" Disconcertion filled his face as he looked at her, a hand gingerly removing a string of hair blocking her face. "I guess… this is what they call 'sensory overload.' The stress on her mind was probably so great that her body just reacted like this… locking down most of her senses…"

Cole nearly shivered just seeing her, but he had to press the matter further. "Shouldn't she be taken to a hospital, then? This can't be a safe condition for her…" He adjusted his gaze to the other boy's father, sharply dressed in formal attire.

"I'm sure all the hospitals in the area already have their hands full already," the older man answered, "And besides, there are numerous, well-trained caretakers at the estate. I can assure proper treatment for her there." His logistical tone of voice fit well with the aged wisdom behind his eyes. The graying hair around his temples and forehead made him look more… _experienced_, rather than simply old. In fact, everything about the man seemed a bit weathered, as if his mere appearance could tell quite a story of its own. "My wife and I have been providing shelter for anyone within the immediate area, and we managed to gather more security as well, so it is perhaps the safest place in the city at the moment."

Cole nodded in agreement with the Mr. Klandstein's words. _A sudden swarm of wild Pokémon…_ he said to himself, thinking back to just earlier that day. _So much has happened... I'd almost forgotten._ He glanced at his watch. _It's only been a few hours since that outbreak of Seviper in Goldenrod's park… Is this really just a coincidence?_ "By the way, Mr. Klandstein," he went on, finding more and more questions rising from his thoughts, "Do you know how long this has been going on, sir?"

"Hm? Oh, I'd say about three or four hours now…" A hand roamed up towards his chin as the thought. "It's hard to say with any certainty, though. Everything's become so hectic since I first heard about it this morning."

The limousine skidded around a corner, revealing an enormous structure through the front window, fraught with a glassy shimmer from the lowering sun. White-bleached gates flung open for the oncoming vehicle as it sped straight though to a ground level parking garage.

And as the tires gradually slowed to a complete stop, Cole began to feel a wearied relief wash over him. It wasn't all that surprising, he realized as he thought back to earlier in the day. He'd been up since before six, hardly even getting a chance to rest after he left the safety of the Pokémon Center.

Everyone exited the car, Steven and his father practically carrying Mabel through the rather typical parking lot. Though, the cylindrical elevator that they reached after a short walk retained a more exciting veneer with its sheen glass walls and golden trimming.

"So…" Cole began again as Mr. Klandstein tapped the 'B1' button with his free hand, "You all really live here?" It seemed a bit strange that such a famous family would live in some gigantic office building.

Steven nodded, but then paused to add, "Well, we usually just stick to the top five floors and a couple of the basement levels 'cause the rest are all business related." He shifted a little as the elevator began to sink, moving his slender left arm more firmly around his sister's shoulder. "Of course, there's also the small mansion around back that mom and pop use for hosting events and whatnot, but sis and I only hang out over there because of the pool." A weak smile crossed his lips as he glanced at Mabel's jittering expression.

"Wow," Cole remarked, "I can't even imagine how it must feel to be so rich…" He let the pair of men escape the elevator first after it came to rest again, following closely behind.

A busying hum rose out of the area as the young trainer looked around. There was a desk straight ahead, standing in front of three hallways that branched off in different directions. Numerous people sat around the cushioned waiting area, many of which looked quite distraught or uncomfortable surrounded by those bleached walls.

"Ah, Mr. Klandstein," came the settled voice of a black-haired man clad in a white lab coat, "We've already prepared a room for your daughter, sir." The apparent doctor-type individual pushed up on a thick pair of lenses, ineffectively covering a very distinct sharpness in the man's hazel eyes. The gloves on his bony hands looked quite fresh and sterilized as he hurried over to the trio, offering help in carrying Mabel.

"Thank you, Achan," the older man replied without a smile as he ignored the doctor's offer. "Please inform my wife of our arrival."

"…Of course," Achan said with the slightest smirk before turning to lead them into a small room a short ways down the leftmost hall. After Mabel had been given a bed rest in, the sharp-faced doctor quickly retreated from the room.

Cole heaved a relieving breath as he fell into a bloated chair in the corner. "So you've got your own hospital inside this office building, huh? Pretty convenient." He closed his, leaning his head back against cushioned material.

"Yeah," Steven replied, taking a seat adjacent to Cole, "B1 and B2 are the levels used for medical treatment, but they might've expanded to other floors to deal with all that's been going on."

Mr. Klandstein didn't join the boys for a seat. He only stood next to the sterile bed, looking into his daughter's face.

Feeling a slow silence beginning to take hold of them, Cole tilted his head up to blurt out another question, "Uh, who was that man just now?"

His response was slow to come, dragging out of the father after a few moments, "That was Dr. Achan. He's only been with us for a few months now, but he's assistant to the Head of our Medical Division, Dr. Rinehart." The words seemed to come without effort as the rest of his body remained virtually motionless. "From what little I've seen of the man, he's quite skilled. Though, I do not know much else about him."

"Why thank you, sir." It was Achan, standing in the open doorway. "It is quite endearing to know that my skills as a doctor have not gone unappreciated." A tiny smile curled off the end of his lips, as if to hint at a deeper thought brewing behind those inquiring eyes. Everything about this man seemed rather _precise_, to say the least. The features of his face could've cut rock, yet the merriment also present did not seem particularly soothing. Perhaps because it looked as if the man was enjoying something about this current crisis that the everyone else was not…

"Wait a sec," Cole piped up, eyes widening as he remembered, "Can you guys treat my Sudowoodo here?" He looked around the room, hoping for an answer from someone.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Steven placed his hands behind his head, turning towards the white-coated man. "You can treat his Pokémon real quick, can'tcha? Sis is the one who injured it after all…" He avoided looking at her lying there.

A bit of surprise cracked the doctor's face as he replied, "Ah, yeah… I suppose there's no harm in accommodating him here…" The man seemed almost disappointed, looking towards Cole. "Please follow me, young sir."

"Thanks."

**Wednesday 19:03 GMT // 7:03 PM**  
A dull buzz clung to the cafeteria as Harland sat in a modest chair, cross-legged so that neither foot touched the floor. It probably wasn't the best eating posture in the world, but he didn't really care. No one was sitting with him anyway. The monkey-nosed mask that he always wore slid part way up his face to allow room for his mouth to take food. He had debated taking it off altogether, as he always did, but it was against regulation to remove it where others could see. _I never really understood why we have to wear these stupid things in the first place…_ But honestly, he didn't feel like thinking about the same boring things he always did when he sat down to eat. Instead, he let his mind wander towards newer business.

_An infiltration mission, huh?_ A bit of chilled sandwich hesitated in front his mouth for a moment before he bit into it. _Well, at least it's not some boring recon again. Hopefully it'll be more interesting this time around._ The grin crossing his lips could almost be that of a small child, simple and honest in its understanding of the world. When it came down to it, perhaps that was Harland's truest quality: the pure, inconspicuous nature of his heart. It might have seemed strange for such a person to become wrapped up in an organization such as this, but in the end, everything had simply come down to him being unlucky…

_"…Daddy, why do those men come to our house and take my friends away all the time?" Harland's young face looked candidly up at the man standing before him, his hands tugging at a long pant leg._

_"I told you Harland, I'm not your dad." The logistical expression on the man's face seemed a bit spoiled by a hint of sadness. "This is an orphanage. I'm here to look after you, but you shouldn't call me your father."_

_Little Harland's brow dipped up in confusion. "…Okay…" He didn't really understand why the man who had taken care of him for as long as he could remember was not his father, but he would try to do as he was told nonetheless._

_The man only sighed at the young boy's word before continuing, "Those men are performing research and they need some help from us." His words probably came out a little shakier than expected._

_"What kinda help?"_

_"Just…" The man paused, perhaps unsure of his next words. "…Just a few tests to help them with their research…"_

_"What kinds'a tests? And how come they gotta have us for 'em?"_

_He looked down at the small boy, his face crumbling at the edges as he stared into those naïve, innocent eyes. "Ah… I…" The man tore his face away before he could finish, retreating up the heavy staircase behind him._

…Blinking, Harland's eyes came to a rest on the sliver of sandwich that had stopped halfway to his mouth. _That was when I first started to realize what was going on_, he recalled. _Though I suppose it never occurred to me that I would eventually be taken as well._ He resumed eating as his vague thoughts continued. _Heh, I was such a stupid kid…_ A smirk held to his face as he chewed, unwilling to admit to the depression growing in his chest. "Hehe…" came a breathy chuckle, as if suppressing some greater laughter within. "I was…" He could hardly even hear his own whispers. _I was…_ Memories of that fateful day rang clearly through his mind…

_…A moonless night left the exact number of black-clad soldiers in front the orphanage home a mystery. Everything would have been dead quiet if not for the yells from just inside the doorway of the house. _

_"Let go 'a me!" Harland's short arms grasped the brunt of a wooden column on the staircase's handrail, knuckles whitening with tension. "I don't wanna go with you!"_

_"Just shut up already, ya little brat!" the man with an arm around the boy's stomach yelled back._

_"Gah! I said let go, stupid!" The small boy's shouting continued without much effect, but when another presence arrived at the end of the hallway leading back to the rest of the house, Harland paused for a moment before calling out to the man standing there. "Daddy! Come tell these guys to lemme go!"_

_Heavy footsteps indicated the man's approach. "I'm not your father," the orphan home's caretaker muttered in a hollow tone._

_"Wh-what?" Harland stuttered back, his hands loosening as he wondered why the man thought it necessary to say such a thing at a time like this._

_"I said I'm not your father. You don't have a father."_

_His little face twisted with childish anger. "I don't care if my first dad died. You're my dad now!" The man who had been pulling at his legs suddenly stopped, letting his feet catch the ground._

_"…No, Harland," the boy's guardian said, "You've never had a father at all." He folded his arms, ice blue eyes staring straight into the child's face._

_Harland tilted his head back, squinting. "…What ?"_

_"You… are a clone." The words killed all other sounds. "You're a copy, just like all the other children in this orphanage. It's not that your parents died… they never existed."_

_The boy stopped seeing as he listened; the soldier that picked him up received no struggle._

_"You were created in a laboratory, Harland," continued that empty voice, "And now it's time for you to return there and be what you really are."_

_"What I… really am?" he thought he mumbled back. _

_"…An experiment…" _

...Harland's mind returned to the present, still feeling that inexorable grin on his lips. Yet something felt different. A hand wandered up to his cheek.

He was crying.

**Thursday 15:46 GMT // 3:46 PM**  
"Ugh…" Cole groaned as his eyelids slid open, revealing a pale blue ceiling. Grogginess clouded his vision as he scratched his head awake. _Guh…_ came an unproductive thought, _Yesterday was so crazy… I didn't even get to sleep until around two…_ Even yesterday's fatigue had not prevented him from staying up with Steven and Mr. Klandstein. It just wouldn't have felt right if he had left them there with all that worry in their eyes.

He took a deep breath along with a moment to look around the room he'd been given. A huge bed was probably enough to fit two or three more of him comfortably, and the silk-velvet sheets could've hatched eggs with their warmth. Thin curtains coated a pair of door-sized windows, apparently incapable of stopping the gleams of sunlight pouring through. Though, it was the flat screen television mounted on the far wall that really caught his attention. Snatching the remote from the oaken nightstand to his left, he turned it on.

White static filled the screen. _Ah, figures… this place must have cable or satellite. The swarms of Ariados probably screwed up the reception._ He flipped channels, looking for anything. _Hm?_ queried a thought. _None of the local networks either? They couldn't have knocked out all the TV stations… Aren't some of these channels broadcasting from Goldenrod or Olivine?_ Confusion crept into his face as the door to the hallway swung open.

"Oh, you're awake." It was Steven, stopping to look at Cole as he entered. "Here," he said, tossing a familiar Pokéball at the other boy, "You're tree's been fixed." The slight smile on the young man's face seemed a bit half-hearted. Bags under his eyes and ruffled hair suggested that he hadn't achieved much sleep.

"Thanks." Cole rolled out of bed to clip the ball to his belt, slung over the top of a suede chair.

"Mabel's gonna be fine," Steven said, answering the question that was hiding behind Cole's lips. He stood idly by the door, as if waiting.

"…That's good," Cole returned weakly, sliding off the checkered shirt he'd slept in.

"Yeah," Steven agreed with a nod, leaning against the side wall, "The doctors say she'll be back to her old self in just a few hours."

"Oh really?" A fresh white shirt slipped past his head, muffling the sound of his words. "I didn't think she'd be able to recover so quickly, to tell ya the truth…" He turned around to look at his newest friend with a feeble grin. "Not that I'm disappointed or anything. She just seemed pretty shaken up."

"Heh, I know watcha mean. She's stronger than she looks. It even surprises me sometimes." His brow tipped up as he waved a hand with his voice. "It's kinda strange, though. She can be pretty fragile, too." The boy's airy voice still held a hint of concern, despite his chosen words. "Sure makes my job as a brother more difficult." An almost playful look crossed his face, but his eyes were left to wander about the room, staring blankly at a few different things until they came to rest on the snow-filled television screen. "I see you're into the more educational shows…"

"Hm? Oh yeah. All the channels are like that." He took up the remote again to flip through the endless array of static again. "Any news about the sudden attacks?"

Steven's hands wandered up behind his head. "Well, pop said that pretty much the whole city's been hit. Seems like things have quieted down since yesterday, but I don't think anyone is completely at ease, know what I mean?"

"Any idea what caused all this?"

"Not really, just a bunch of a lame guesses. Some people seem to think they've all been drugged or possessed or something." The young man took a moment to heave a small sigh. "Seems pretty dumb to me, but I guess after hearing some guy talking about how this is a 'sign of the apocalypse,' it doesn't seem all that crazy…"

"Geez…" Cole mumbled, slipping his belt around his waist to click the silver, lion-headed buckle into place, "Well, at least we made it here in one piece. Things might have ended badly if your father hadn't shown up like that."

"No kidding."

"Hey, how'd he manage to find us, anyway?"

"Dunno," Steven replied. "Guess it was just luck?" It wasn't really a question, but he asked it like one.

"Hm," was all Cole threw back, running a fist through a mess of hair.

"Does that bother you?"

"Eh, maybe I just don't like the prospect of my life being the result of some kinda casino game or somethin'…" Cole shook his head as he sat down in a cushioned chair.

"Heh," the other boy chuckled, unfolding his arms, "So you prefer to think that it was like… fate? Maybe I just don't like the prospect of my life being predetermined."

"Ah, well that doesn't sound all that great, either," he returned with a slacking smirk, "Maybe a combination of the two is more comforting."

"So Fate and Luck are two drinking buddies playin' a few rounds of poker?" he asked through the laughter, "I think I like that better, too!"

"Well, I dunno if I want them to be drunk or not," Cole chuckled back.

...And for a moment, a short, but altogether welcome moment, their worries seemed to disappear.

**Thursday 17:43 GMT // 5:43 PM**  
The gigantic skyscraper remained teeming with people, moving between different areas of the building, attending to various matters that had come up during this strange course of events. It seemed Klandstein Estate was one of only a few secure locations in the entire city. Word of shelter at the Ecruteak Gym and a few of the larger Pokémon Centers buzzed around, but still no indication of when it would be safe to move through the city again. It looked like things had quieted down a bit, yet phones and television were down, regardless of what they were connected to. Without any long distance communication, everyone was a little on edge, perhaps afraid that things would suddenly take a turn for the worse.

From the far wall, Cole looked across the familiar room towards the awoken girl. She still shivered involuntarily from time to time, but for the most part, Mabel seemed in good health. The vibrance that Cole recalled from their first meeting yesterday had returned to her eyes, filling the room with a welcomed relief.

Mrs. Klandstein had managed to join her husband and son this time, and even though her daughter had finally awoken, that intensely worried expression never seemed to leave the older woman's face. "Are you sure you're feeling alright, dear? You don't need anything else?" Apparently the dozen extra pillows and banquet of fresh-cooked food wouldn't quell the mother's concern. "More blankets, perhaps? Nurse! Bring my daughter more blankets!"

Despite her demanding tone and pinpoint sharpness, Cole could see she meant well. _Not so different from my own mother, now that I think about it_, he considered as he stood there, a nostalgic smirk creeping onto his face.

"Really mother, I'm fine," Mabel explained, a look of part empathy and part irritation on her face. "I think I've had enough of this bed, actually. I slept for almost twenty hours, you know."

"Well," Steven broke in, "I wouldn't really call it _sleep_…"

"Shut up," she promptly replied, not even turning to look at her brother. Her gaze moved between her parents, hopeful that they might allow her to leave. "I just want to get a little exercise to help me regain my strength, that's all."

"Ah, well…" Mr. Klandstein started reluctantly, "I suppose that makes sense…" His wife didn't quite share the same opinion.

"No, it doesn't make sense," she said firmly, "You're going to stay in bed, young lady. You've been through a very traumatizing experience and you need your rest."

"Aw, but mom…" Mabel tried.

"No buts!" she nearly yelled through her folded arms, "You need your rest!"

Everyone else seemed to sigh at once, probably figuring any counterargument was doomed to a merciless slaughter.

Mr. Klandstein cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, if your mother thinks it is necessary, then you should stay in bed, sweetheart."

Cole tilted his head as he watched, finding it a bit strange that these two people, pristinely poised in their perfectly touched up business suits, were acting so… parentally. _Such a wealthy family… I didn't expect them to be so… close?_ He wasn't quite sure how to word it, but whatever it was, it made for a soothing sight. A familial bond amidst such trying circumstances was a pleasant surprise.

"…Alright," Mabel relinquished, lying against the plethora of pillows behind her. She was clearly upset by the situation, but apparently her obedience to her parents still won out. "I'll just try to relax then…" She gave a dainty sigh, sinking deeper into the mattress as she clutched a spoonful of banana pudding.

"Hey dad," Steven chimed in with a new topic, pushing up on his thick lenses, "Ya gotta a job for me around here?" Everyone blinked at his unexpected question. "It's just, things are gettin' busy around here, so I figure I should probably do something to help out. And besides…" He paused for a moment to look around at everyone. "I'm kinda bored."

A laugh broke out of his father's mouth. "Oh, I'm sure I could find you something nice and _interesting_. With so many people that need to be taken care of, just about all of the facilities could benefit from another volunteer." The gleam in the man's eyes seemed to indicate how proud he was of his son.

_…Gah_, Cole thought with a raised brow, _Is this the definition of a perfect family, or what?_ And when he noticed everyone looking at him expectantly, he hesitated before dragging out the words that he knew they wanted to hear. "Oh, and uh… I'd like to volunteer, too…" _Aw, dangit…_ He stifled a sigh.

**Thursday 23:56 GMT // 11:56 PM**  
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Leon hunched forward, his elbows propped up on his knees. Harsh shades of darkness littered the room; he'd neglected to turn on the sickly pale light engraved into the ceiling, in favor of a small, gold-coated lantern at the foot of his bed. Somehow, it seemed more peaceful.

His bare hands caressed the edge of the shimmering blade he'd picked up the day before, eyes filled with a far off sense of remembrance…

_…The outer-locked door burst open, swinging violently into the small room. "What the hell's the problem in here?!" exploded the voice of a severely upset man, "Why haven't you taken a test subject to the lab yet!?" A single set of bunk beds crowded the tiny wall opposite the only means of entry into the room._

_"It's these two boys, sir!" explained a frustrated man in a white trench coat, pulling vigorously at the ankles of a small child who clung desperately to an almost perfect reflection of himself. "They just won't let go of one another!"_

_"Idiots!" shouted the burly man who'd just barged in, "They're just little kids! How much trouble could they possibly give you!?" The man seemed incapable of lowering his voice. "Come here ya little brat!" Thrusting a heavy arm on the small child whom the other man had already achieved a hold on, he pulled backwards with enough force to tear both boys from the bottom bunk. "Let go, already!"_

_The pair of boys tumbled back, slamming next to the only door, yet neither of them released his hold on the other; if anything, their grips only tightened all the more. They clung to each with such desperation that it seemed as if they were truly inseparable. And as one looked at the likeness between their tear-streaked faces, it almost seemed like there was only one of them sitting there, his arms wrapped around a mirror image of himself. For that is what they were: identical twins born from the indiscriminate means of an unsanctioned laboratory._

_"Erg," the larger man growled, "We'll just take both of them, then! There's no point wasting any more time here!" Bulging veins sprouted from his neck and forehead as he stepped closer to the single bundle of boy, scooping them in his massive arms to take them away from the room…_

…Leon's face faltered behind that white mask. _I… he…_ It had been quite a long time since he'd thought about that day. A stinging shiver fell down his spine as more memories poured into his mind…

_"...Leon…" Even the small boy's whisper could hardly keep from cracking. "Leon… d-don't…" Harsh light shone down from the ceiling, making his face look even sicklier than it already was. "…d-do-don't-t…" His eyes were darting between the different extremes, as if trying to see everything around him at the same time._

_It was like looking into his very own death. His brother trembled within his arms, rejecting the vile creation that these scientists had given them. And as he held his shivering twin, staring through the water flooding his eyes, Leon could not curb the fear spreading through his thoughts. Unable to force anything but an inaudible groan from his mouth, he could only watch his brother there, dying right in front of him. Terrible thoughts plagued his mind, tearing at his chest with conceited wonderment. _…Am I…going to be alone?

_"Bruh-brugh-broth-er…" the boy coughed out, still desperately trying to say something, "…don't… l-le-lea-ve…" That horrible shaking only grew more violent through his choking words._

_And yet, Leon could do naught but stare._

_His brother's eyes, listless and emptied, cried with the lifeblood of his heart... _

"…Hey." A woman's voice pulled him back. It was Alexandra, standing there in the doorway. "It's time to go. Our mission starts now."


	6. The Undiscovered Dark

_**Part VI: **__**The Undiscovered Dark**_

**Friday 01:22 GMT / 1:22 AM**  
**C**ole sighed, opening his eyes and sitting up in the middle of his huge mattress. He'd been trying to get to sleep for nearly two hours now, but his mind seemed too active. _I guess that's what I get for waking up so late…_ It was a bit strange, though. His body felt a bit tired, yet thoughts wouldn't stop buzzing through his head. _I wonder if that means I exercise my body more than my brain…_ He quirked an eyebrow through the darkness. _Bah, I don't wanna think about it_. Ignoring the irony he sensed somewhere in there, Cole rolled out of bed, feeling as though he needed to do something else before trying to sleep again.

It had been a busy day, especially since 'volunteering' to help maintain things around the estate. He'd mainly been serving food and busing tables in the cafeteria, as Mr. Klandstein had _suggested_, but even through all the toilsome activities of the day, Cole felt vaguely preoccupied. As if he had forgotten something that he shouldn't have, leaving his mind ill at ease until he could remember.

He slipped his belt on, having resolved to never leave without his Pokémon, even if he didn't think he would need them. _I have the past three days to thank for that_, remarked a wry thought. Even if it was just paranoia, Cole wasn't about to consider doing otherwise. _Am I afraid of the dark now, too?_ jabbed another thought. He shook his head, trying to clear it of anymore irritating accusations as he left the room.

For a while, he only let his bare feet carry him forward, not really bothering to think where he might be going. Vacant eyes gazed around, never locking onto any one thing for very long. When it came down to it, he could feel a stark inadequacy boiling his in his chest, trying to send him a message he couldn't quite decipher. Almost like he felt out of place in this huge building, but at the same time, that didn't exactly cover it. _Have you already given up, you bastard?_ asked a harsh flicker. _Already stopped caring about what's happened?_ He blinked, searching for the source of these cruel words. _What about V-_ Another voice broke through, pushing his current turmoil to the backseat.

"Cole, you okay, man?" Steven's voice said.

"Huh?" he fumbled, taking in the other boy's appearance, "Ah… yeah, I'm fine."

Standing there with his slender arms folded, Steven peered at Cole, a bit of concerned wonderment behind his heavy glasses. "This hall is a circle, you know. You've rounded it three times now. I was beginning the to think you were sleepwalking." That familiar smirk slipped into the young man's face again, illustrating his amusement.

"Oh, ah…" Cole's eyes grasped for what had just happened. "I was just… walking." Quirking an eyebrow, he looked more directly at his friend. "What're you doing around here? Isn't it like two a.m.?"

"Quarter 'til," Steven corrected without even looking at the watch on his wrist, "And I couldn't sleep, so I was gonna go check on sis. I spotted you, lookin' like a zombie, so I followed you."

"But why did you come through this hall? Isn't your room up on the nine hundredth floor or somethin' like that?" He smirked at his own lame exaggeration.

"Dude, my room's right over there." The young man pointed at the door across the hall from Cole's guest room.

"…Oh." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"You seem kinda out of it…" Steven remarked with a tilt of his head. "Wanna come check on sis with me?"

Cole shrugged. "Sure."

**Friday 01:49 GMT / 1:49 AM**  
A weighted night covered the stars with utter blackness, melting three silhouettes into darkness as they arrived at the rear of Klandstein Estate. They had abandoned their motorcycles several blocks back, not wanting to alert anyone to their presence. The streets were devoid of life, yet vehicles stood in the middle of the road, locked bumper to bumper in what seemed a never-ending traffic jam. A few faint lights dotted some of the towering structures here and there, but they paled in comparison to what downtown Ecruteak used to be. Leon could practically taste the tension in the air.

"Which way?" came Harland's hushed voice. Even his white mask was hardly visible against the beating dark.

"Security cameras should not spot us if we climb over the wall from here," Alexandra said, "After which, we will proceed to basement level five, where the target is." Her teammates only nodded in confirmation.

The wall was no obstacle. Short, metal claws concealed in their palms allowed them to scale the burdensome stone with a seasoned ease, leaving them to dart over the shadowed grass as soon as their silent boots hit the ground again.

Eyes scanning tentatively, Leon touched the hilt of his sword unconsciously. It clung to his back, inside a makeshift scabbard that he'd constructed himself. Of course, it was jet black, just like most of his gear, but he'd managed to add a more polished gleam to it.

Security was tight, as expected. Numerous night hands patrolled the property like clockwork, hardly leaving any gaps for the trio to exploit. But then again, just one small opening was all they needed; as a heavyset guard rounded a far corner of the building, the small team took advantage of those precious invisible moments. Their target entrance had no outer handles for them to use, but it wouldn't make a difference.

Alexandra palm slid up against the heavy, metallic door, held perfectly flat for a moment, and then quickly jerked clockwise, pulling a dulled clinking sound from the lock. They were inside the building.

Pale light washed over their dark figures, trying to alleviate the Night that still clung to them. Bleached tiles coated the floor, so even the team's featherweight boots were forced to make a little more noise than desired. Things felt a bit less certain in here, Leon found. If push came to shove, this compact hallway could prove troublesome. And as they pressed on towards those double doors, the approaching sound of footsteps reverberated across the marbled floor…

**Friday 01:53 GMT / 1:53 AM**  
"Why'd we come up to the roof?" Cole inquired as the elevator doors opened. It certainly wasn't an _average_ rooftop, by any means, but he still found it a bit odd that Steven's sister would be hanging around up here in the middle of the night.

"I said we were gonna check on sis, didn't I?" Steven replied, walking through the open doors nonchalantly.

"Yeah…" Hesitantly, Cole peered around. Aside from a few cobblestone footpaths that branched away from the elevator, the _ground_ was covered in grass, giving it more of a relaxed, outdoorsy feel. Great trees littered the area, their heavy leaves rustling against a nightly breeze, providing unnecessary shade from a few large lamps poking out of the ground like dulled spikes. Various Pokémon lingered around, most sleeping peacefully.

"How ya feelin' sis?" Steven threw over to the far border of the roof where Mabel stood, looking over the edge with a number of different monsters hanging around her. Mr. Klandstein stood with her, apparently checking on his daughter as well.

"Fine," she said airily, seeming preoccupied with something else. "At least I finally managed to get away from that bed…"

"Your mother would bite my head off if she knew you were up here, sweetie," Mr. Klandstein remarked, still carrying a glint of worry in his olive-colored eyes.

Mabel only smiled lightly at her father's words as she stroked the brown feathers of a large bird perched on the ledge next to her. Standing at around four feet, the avian creature retained a few long, colorful feathers striping down the length of its back, as well as enormous, segmenting talons with which it kept its balance. Its wide wings were pulled in against its body, but Cole imagined that it must've been able to carry a human person with relative ease given the sight of the thing.

_Wow_, he marveled to himself, _So this is what those tiny little Pidgey evolve into?_ Walking towards Mabel, Cole found a morsel of contentment as he took a moment to daydream about having a Pidgeot for himself. _It'd sure make traveling a lot easier…_ A slight smile passed his lips as he looked off towards a murky night.

Buildings rose up in all directions, but hardly any lights broke through the darkness that had overtaken the city. Things seemed strangely disorienting as he gazed out, almost as if the world itself was confused, as if the land that he saw laid out before him was unsure of itself. The light fog roiling around the streets below danced to some delirious beat, undaunted by its newest onlooker. It was a bit disconcerting, he realized after a moment, as if monstrous fiends had taken over the city… so he turned his attention back to the people standing around him.

"…I'm a little bored," Mabel blurted out, putting a hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. "Isn't there anything interesting to do around here?"

_She's… kinda weird_, Cole thought as he looked at her, standing there in what he guessed were clothes she wouldn't exactly call 'fashionable'. A plain white shirt and gray sweatpants summed up the entirety of her garments, but even through the casual dress, she still seemed to have a certain kind of clarity to her. Perhaps it was the way she still managed to put on makeup despite her vulnerable position or perhaps it was simply the way she stood there, slouching yet somehow poised, but something lifted her above that drab attire. _I guess it's not so shocking, though_, he mused to himself, _Steven mentioned she takes part in beauty pageants all the time, so appearance must be important to her._ When he realized she was staring right back at him, Cole choked back his surprise, trying to keep his face from flushing.

"…Something on your mind?" Mabel asked, tilting her head at him.

All things considered, she didn't really strike him as the type of person who would be very interested in what he was thinking. _Guess she really is bored…_ "Um," he started, wondering if there was any kind of tangible conversation to be scrounged from his wandering head, "You were coming from Goldenrod when we first ran into each other, right?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, "I had a photo shoot and Steven had some science-thing."

_…'Some science-thing'?_ Cole thought, _…She's not one of those typical blonde-types, is she?_ He didn't let his mouth follow his mind. "While you were in Goldenrod, did you happen to here about an outbreak of Seviper in the park?" His eyes turned back to the Pidgeot as it stood there, half asleep on the ledge of the building.

"Outbreak? I don't think so…" She peered back at him, apparently letting curiosity get the better of her. "Why do you ask?"

But Steven chimed in before Cole could respond. "Wait, I remember hearing 'bout something like that before I left the convention…"

Cole looked over at the young man, finding him sitting cross-legged on the grass, a hand resting on a fairly large, deeply blue mound of gently rising and falling breaths. It was an exoskeleton, he realized after a moment of watching the subtle shimmer from nearby lamps, and the entirety of the creature seemed to take on the form of a hefty stag beetle, indicated so by a long, curved horn jutting out from just above a pair closed eyes. _A Heracross, isn't it? Never seen one 'a those before either…_ He ignored the urge to whip out his Pokédex for confirmation, wanting to focus on the topic at hand… and… maybe he didn't want to feel like such a geek in front of these people.

"Yeah," Steven continued after a moment, "There was some kinda commotion goin' on as we were leaving. We didn't have time to stick around, though, so I never found out what was going on exactly."

"Well," Cole began again, letting his back tap up against the stony ledge, "I experienced a bit of the outbreak first hand."

"Oh yeah?" Mabel nudged.

"Yeah, but like you guys, I didn't exactly stick around to find out the details." At their inquiring eyes, he stuck a thumb at his chest. "Not a big fan of snakes."

"Hm," interjected a previously quiet father, "So Ecruteak isn't the only experiencing problems with wild Pokémon." He paused to run a few fingers through his graying beard, a thoughtful glimmer behind those silver-trimmed glasses. "I have to admit… that information is a bit unsettling."

"The swarm in Goldenrod didn't seem nearly as bad as the one here," Cole explained, "but I guess it could've been a lot worse than what I saw."

"It's weird enough that it happened in once place, but two?" Steven remarked, eyes glazing through the grassy patch in front of him. "Obviously, there's gotta be a connection somewhere…"

"Yeah, but what kind of connection?" Mabel asked. "Do we even have a clue about what actually happened?"

"It's not like this sort of thing happens all the time…" Cole looked across their confused faces, each of them staring off in a different direction. "We don't really have enough information to do anything but guess."

"Well, what _do_ we know, exactly?" asked Mr. Klandstein, an uncannily business-like expression built into his face as he stared back at Cole. "It may seem like we don't have all that much information at our disposal, but try to look at all the facts."

"…Facts like what?" Cole queried the older gentleman, quirking an eyebrow.

Steven answered first. "You just gave us a pretty juicy bit of information there, buddy. Look for any correlations between what happened in Goldenrod and what happened in Ecruteak. For instance, both places were hit with poison-type monsters, right?"

"Yeah…" Cole agreed, unsure of what difference it made.

"And," Mr. Klandstein continued his son's thought, "Both swarms consisted of different, but still one particular Pokémon. A swarm of Seviper and a swarm of Ariados."

"What difference does that make?" Cole asked, only starting to feel more confused by their logic.

"It's strange that each group had only one specific monster," Steven assessed, pulling his hands back behind his head as he lied down on the grass, "Wild swarms should have multiple Pokémon in them… like instead of purely Ariados, it would've made more sense if there were some Spinarak or Stantler or some other monster indigenous to the areas around Ecruteak."

Mabel spoke up before the youngest boy could, "So they weren't really wild, then?"

"Maybe," Steven continued, "But it seems pretty unlikely that anyone would bother gathering so many of the exact same Pokémon together. It seems more likely that something happened that managed to agitate only one kind of monster…"

"Ah," Mr. Klandstein breathed, smiling lightly at his son's astuteness, "That would make sense. However, if it was really something that could only irritate Ariados or only Seviper, then that would imply that the two outbreaks are not connected very much, if at all."

"Hm, you've got a point…" Steven's bottom lip pushed up a little as the thought further. "I guess that's what makes this all seem so strange. Each case is just odd enough to seem like something unnatural caused it, but the two of them together are just different enough to look like their causes would be _similar_, but not the _same_…" His own logic seemed to irritate him. "Of course, if each case was just a natural phenomena, then it's extremely unlikely for two of them to have occurred in the same day, especially so close to one another…"

"Um…" Cole tried to say, but Steven continued with something a little more tangible.

"In other words," said the older boy, "Whoever is responsible for this tried to make it look like an accident... But it's still not really that simple." Uncertainty laced his voice as he stared up at the black sea above, perhaps wishing there was a moon for his eyes to grasp on to. "I think… I think they wanted it to look like an accident, but… whatever they were doing made that difficult. There are still too many signs of artificial intervention for it to be seen as just a natural accident…"

"…Ya lost me again," Cole informed the other boy. _Geez, this guy's way different when he really starts to think…_

"He means," Mabel began to explain in a very matter-of-fact tone, "That someone wanted to make it look like an accident, but they didn't do a very good job. Probably because what they were doing was too difficult to hide correctly… maybe unstable or something like that."

_Guess she's not so ditzy after all…_ His brow depressed as he looked at the family of problem solvers, trying not to feel like the odd man out again.

"Well," Mr. Klandstein started, "Staying up all night won't do for the day ahead, so I think we had all best head for bed about now. And besides, I should get back to the bedroom before your mother notices I'm not there."

The man's voice was so polite that Cole could scarcely imagine disagreeing with it, even though the girl next to him still seemed wide awake with that contemplative expression disrupting her quaint features. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea…" he mumbled, pulling himself away from his position against the ledge.

Steven nodded, standing up and brushing himself off. "C'mon sis, I'll walk ya back to your room."

"…Alright," she relinquished, permitting herself to walk back towards the elevator with her brother following closely by her side.

A gripping wind picked up, catching Cole by surprise for a second as he watched them walk away from him, slowed to a crawl in a moment of confused apprehension. He blinked away the fleeting sensation to shuffle in behind the siblings. "I'll go too."

**Earlier**

**Friday 00:35 GMT / 12:35 AM**  
Toc, Captain of the Third Division, yawned against the stale lights illuminating the hallway. _Why do I have to be up so late?_ he asked himself, still trying to shake the glaze out of his hidden eyes. A hand rubbed behind the thin pair of shades that he always wore as he passed through to the Commander's Office, hardly even alert enough to notice his superior standing just a few feet away. As usual, the boss-man wore shadows like a blanket, emanating only a few outlines of his robust figure. _How does this guy ever get anything done with such poor lighting...?_

"Ah, Captain Toc, I've been waiting for you," came that familiar, almost growling voice. The man always sounded contemptuous for some reason, even if he was handing out a compliment. A hesitant pause begged a question about Toc's sunglasses. "…Is my office still too bright for you?"

"Oh, no…" the Captain started, "I have sensitive eyes." It was strange to hear the Commander trail off-topic, but Toc wasn't about to go into the real explanation. "What'd ya wanna talk about, anyway? You know how much I like my beauty sleep," he went on, riddled with girlish sarcasm. As usual, he didn't bother with the formalities that most other people did. Perhaps it would get him in trouble one day, but Toc wasn't much for adhering to such trivialities. And besides, he was a Captain, so he figured he could get away with it.

"The Strike Team is being relocated."

Toc blinked, suddenly finding himself awake. "What? Why?" It was hardly the news he had expected, especially for such an awkward time.

"Orders from Headquarters," the man explained flatly. "Of the six members stationed here, three are to be transferred to HQ."

""I see," Toc commented, a little taken aback. He didn't enjoy getting caught off guard, especially by someone like the Commander. He couldn't lose his head around this guy. "So... why're you tellin' me?" he asked carefully.

"You, Captain Toc, are to accompany them."

Suppressing a confident smirk, he folded his arms, looking intently back at the other man. _…It's finally time, eh? Things could really heat up if I'm not cautious..._ "Which three will I be traveling with?"

"Daxter, Cynthia and Felicia," the Commander told him.

Toc had to keep himself from sighing in disappointment. _So Leo and I'll be going our separate ways._ He wasn't quite sure what he should be feeling at the moment, since he was suddenly one giant step closer to achieving his goal. It made him wonder if actually befriending someone in this place would eventually come back to bite him… "When do we leave?"

"Immediately," came the harsh answer. "You should be ready within the hour."

The Captain couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. _Yeesh, that seems a little unreasonable._ He only nodded to confirm the order as he turned to leave, but as he neared the door, he threw a few last words over his shoulder, "Say goodbye to Leo for me, won'tcha?" However, the Commander's answer stopped Toc in his tracks.

"I'm afraid it's a bit late for that, Captain." A cold malice seemed to permeate the very air of that enigmatic room.

Slowly turning around, Toc eyed the executive officer uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"_Leo_," the man started to explain, twisting Toc's use of the nickname, "Has already been given his last mission."

"…'His last mission'?" Toc said, furrowing his brow with unsavory discomfort. _He better not be referring to what I think he is_, struck an irritated chord.

"Like I said before, only three of the six Strike Members stationed here will be transferred to HQ." A cruel pause stole precious seconds from the waiting captain. "The other three are to be eliminated."

_…Dammit._

**Friday 02:00 GMT / 2:00 AM**  
The hallway doors slipped open, revealing a white-clad doctor-type. But the man's expression said this was strictly business, unfazed by what should've been perceived as three unwelcome intruders. His sharp face was anything but comforting, which must've been unpleasant for any patients that ever had the fortune of falling under his care. The _doctor's_ mouth explained.

"The infiltration team, I presume." It might have been a question, but his voice left no room for a response. "I am your assistant for this mission. Follow me." And with that, he turned right around to walk straight back through those heavy double doors.

The team proceeded as a matter of course, and even though they had been briefed on the situation beforehand, Leon couldn't quite bring himself to place the entirety of his trust in this particular individual. Perhaps it was the eyes, weighing and measuring everything they fell upon from behind those wide lenses, but he couldn't peel his own gaze away from the guy, a certain kind of wonderment tickling the back of his head.

Everyone was unnervingly silent, letting only their muffled footsteps echo off the heavy concrete floors as the passed through a packed garage, moving in between various vehicles that barred their path to what only looked to be an elevator.

Suspicion rifled through his mind as Leon peered up at the tubular glass. _Why are we using an elevator? There are too many cameras this way…_ A glance at his comrades revealed nothing, and even though he would've liked to attribute that solely to the masks they wore, he couldn't help but get the feeling they weren't nearly as ill-contented with these circumstances as he. But he kept his thoughts to himself, following as quietly as the other two. The doctor's twisting key triggered closing doors, and the slow sinking downward felt as if Leon were abandoning any logical reasoning he had previously likened to.

Elevator music. Strangely ominous for such a humble tune. Even the receding doors seemed sluggish against the edge in the air.

"Basement Level Five," the leading white coat threw back as he walked forward again, taking them into a wide room, its corners stuffed with sterile-white machinery and equipment. Thick curtains were drawn within the windows lining every wall, begging the question as to what could possibly lie beyond. Bleached linoleum amplified the sounds their footsteps as they moved toward the center of the room, toward what seemed to be the largest machine yet. "This is where some of the most highly classified experiments take place." The man's tone grew an inkling of twisted enthusiasm as he explained. "But this-" he laid a hand on the huge apparatus mounted in front of him "-this beauty here… this is the goal of your mission."

The gigantic contraption dug into the floor with what must've been a kind of bulky, metallic stage that housed whatever show performed there. Various little lights glowed in and out of sync, and a bloated fiberglass cylinder served as a window into the main event, leading straight up to mechanical plates and wiring, pulling heavy half-pipes down to the side like some kind of awkward rocket ship. The utmost tip retained a pointy red bulb, dimly flashing every now and again. All in all, it almost looked like an oversized baby bottle, with an admittedly more intimidating veneer. Though, the only thing held within its confines at the moment was a lone Pokéball, small and unassuming in its slightly tilted posture as it sat there, waiting.

Leon's eyes outlined the small sphere, its red-white sheen glistening against pale light from the high ceiling. He suddenly found himself wondering what it would be like to have a Pokémon of his very own… He had never been allowed to keep a partner for longer than a single assignment, so even though his pupils stared at the contracted ball ahead, his mind was more focused on the one hiding behind his vest. _I still haven't gotten a chance to find out what's inside this thing…_ Looking around at his present situation, surrounded by people who would surely expose his secret should they ever learn of it, he started to wonder if he would ever get that chance.

"Ah, but first," the doctor started up again, tapping a pair of fingers against his forehead as if just remembering something, "I need to go down to the laboratory below to unlock the layers upon layers of security around this machine. If one of you would accompany me, please…" He didn't even glance at them as he started for the narrow spiral staircase on the other end of the room.

"Leon, you go," Alexandra ordered, gazing at the peculiar little sphere resting within that glass cylinder.

He followed the nameless medicine man, remaining as silent as always. A glimpse at the lingering Harland returned him a cheesy thumbs-up, making Leon wonder how lightly the other man could really be taking this whole situation.

As he proceeded down the twisting staircase, he noticed the area around him dim away from the stale lighting of the prior room, receding into a vast room with a much lower ceiling. Computers booted up all around him, the grind and whir of mechanical energy taking presence in the abiding air as he turned towards the sharp-eyed man standing in front of a huge screen.

"Quite a set up we have here, don't you think?" the doctor said with what sounded like a hint of grotesque marvel.

"…Yeah," was all he said, letting his eyes wander past all the buzzing metal and flickering lights. _You idiot_, interrupted a struggling thought. _He wasn't really referring to these computers, was he? You sensed it a long time ago, but you were just too stupid to do anything about it!_ He blinked, suddenly recognizing this feeling of malice stirring in his mind. But as his eyes widened, staring at the man in white, he knew it was far too late.

"Well then," the doctor began slowly, "Shall we get started with the main event?" His palm smacked against the huge keyboard, and a red light flashed throughout the laboratory, beating in and out with an alerting rhythm. "That should open the cage for your little friends." An abominable grin pierced the man's face as he gradually turned around to face Leon.

"What have you done?" he growled, unable to keep the demanding tone from his voice.

"Oh, that was just the silent alarm," the doctor explained. "I must've _accidentally_ triggered it while releasing the locks…" The cruel delight in his face indicated otherwise. "Security will be here within minutes… Oops."

**Friday 00:43 GMT / 12:43 AM**  
Standing there, holding steadily against the encompassing shadows, Captain Toc could only stare at his commander, unsure of what he should be thinking. _Leo… he's been betrayed again?_ A glazed distance fell over those concealed eyes. _That kid's whole life has been one long series of agonizing abandonment… and it's only now, when I might actually be able to help the guy, that I'm told I'll be able to get inside their HQ?_ He didn't know if it was really a question or not, but the timing seemed to fit. After all, it had been just over two years since he first infiltrated the organization for the federal police, intending to discover the identity of the person who was really pulling all the strings here. Of course, even the Commander in front of him was only a pawn to the mastermind at headquarters, so Toc had been spending all of his time trying to get himself transferred. But now that it had happened, the captain suddenly found a hesitant depression in the back of his mind. _So it comes down to a decision between finishing my mission... my mission that could lead to the disbandment of this freakin' place… or saving Leo's life..._ He squinted, looking for some kind of indication of the better choice, but nothing seemed to present itself.

"What's the matter, Captain?" came the other man's harsh voice, riddled with what sounded like a knowing tone. "Was this news truly such a surprise to you, my friend?"

_Hold on_, broke in another thought, _There's too much at stake here to just decide on a whim… If Leo's already dead, then…_ He didn't finish the thought, letting professionalism bolt those writhing emotions behind his face. "You've already done away with them, eh?" He could barely keep the shake out of his voice.

"They are on their way to assist one of our good _doctors_ with a data retrieval mission." The man seemed almost proud his deed, perhaps thinking it much cleverer than mere execution.

_A doctor_, Toc sighed inside his head. _Or in other words… an assassin._ In this place, they were one in the same. Anyone with extensive medical knowledge who chose to work for such an organization would prove to be nothing less. "That's not like you, Commander," remarked Toc's façade. "Such a roundabout way of 'eliminating' someone only runs you a greater risk of failure. Usually you try to be more efficient than that."

The man's abrasive tone hesitated before responding. "…Just what are you implying?"

"Maybe it's nothing," Toc said, emphasizing the nonchalance in his expression, "But then again, I guess even someone like you can't _completely_ ignore your parental instincts…"

A flicker in the other man's composure. "This method _is_ more efficient. It hastens the retrieval of the Alpha data from Klandstein Co. and complies with the order from Headquarters. Two birds with one stone, as they say."

_Whoa_, Toc thought, vaguely tilting his head. _That was a bigger slip than I expected… Must've really hit the nail on the head… _But even though he'd gotten the information that he wanted, he had to consciously keep the disgust out of his face. _I hate mind games… They always make me feel dirty…_

"Though, I suppose it does not matter anymore," the administrating man stated with what might've been relief. "Knowing that doctor the way I do, the mission won't last much longer."

For a moment, the Captain didn't say anything; he only watched the man before him, wondering if such a person as this could really still feel remorse over sending his own daughter to her death.

"Welp," Toc started up again, brushing imaginary dust from his raven-colored trench coat, "I guess I better get packin', then." He turned to leave. "See ya later… sir."

As he left the strangling darkness behind once again, Toc tried to piece his puzzle together. Legs locked into autopilot, the reflective echo of his work boots against heavy acrylic tile pulled the Captain's mind away from the walk back to his room. _Klandstein Company. That's in Ecruteak. Two hours away, maybe close to one if I hurry. I could access the watchmen logs from the computer in my room to find out when they left the base and give me a better idea of how much time I've really got..._

He passed dozens of other black-clad people, yet paid them no mind at all as he ran through various scenarios in his head, trying to think of a way out of the base that wouldn't result in violence. _I can't just leave_, he reminded himself as he neared the door to his quarters. _Lepton is still locked in a holding cell..._ He froze, hand hovering next to the 'open door' button engraved into the wall as he remembered his new partner, Sergeant Jack Lepton, the same man who infiltrated the base just the other day and let Toc capture him. _If I tell Jack that I'm abandoning the mission..._ He didn't finish the thought, knowing full well that his partner would disapprove. And it was at that moment that Toc began to really think about what it was that he was doing.

_'Abandoning the mission'?_ he repeated in his head, unable to shake the distaste clinging to it. _Two years of work just... gone? I can't do that, can I?_ The slew of questions disturbed his resolve as he punched the button on the wall and entered the small chamber. Suddenly, he felt strangely out of place, as if it wasn't really his room at all. As if the simplistic bed, the sturdy metal desk, the flickering computer screen, the light oaken nightstand, the pair of crystalline lamps, the glass showcase of guns, all the things he'd grown accustomed to seeing these past two years; none of it was his. Not at the moment, anyway. Right now, he wasn't Captain Toc of the Third Division; he was Lieutenant Scott Manning, Leader of the Syndicate Infiltration Unit. It seemed like a lifetime since he carried that identity openly, and now that he finally found some real progress being made with the assignment, he began to wonder if his duty as a federal agent would keep him from going to the aid of… _An enemy?_ he asked himself. _Leo's one of the bad guys, after all…_ It didn't really help soothe his mind. He just couldn't shake the feeling that the guy had been victimized through everything that had happened…

He sat down at the computer monitor, touching the silver mouse to rouse the machine from its screensaver. Accessing the watchmen logs would be a simple matter given his Captain's authority, and as he waited for the system to process his request, waiting under those lights that he had neglected to turn on, in the middle of that pressing darkness, he realized what he would have to do. The data popped up on the screen, reading:

/00:06 – Strike Team B leaving the base/

Hollow eyes traced over the data, but it didn't matter anymore. _I could get there in time, but… I just can't…_ Cursing under his breath, he smacked the power button and stood up to start gathering his things. _It's too important to just throw away on a whim…_ But for a moment, he wasn't sure what he was referring to.

**Friday 02:19 GMT / 2:19 AM**  
The tiny bulb seated atop the cylindrical mechanism cast a crimson light across the area. Harland looked on as a dull growl pulled the large object to life, a kind of rhythmic beating of pipes echoing through the enormous chamber with increasing fervor. Searing white steam spewed forth, quickly hiding the entire ceiling from view as it gradually became a sort of billowing fog, swirling around the room with a sluggish ease. At once, it felt as if some kind of phantom had consumed the place, perhaps just trying to conceal its presence with this blood-soaked mist…

A dull clinking sound started up as the wide fiberglass began retreating down into the bottom half of the machine, reluctantly revealing the small Pokéball held within. Tilting his head, Harland eyed the small sphere being released from captivity. Now that the glass was gone, it looked as if the upper part of the machine was simply floating there, making him squint with a quizzical glint in his eyes. At a closer inspection, he noticed two pairs of slender poles anchoring the thing into the ceiling. _That's an odd way to build a machine…_ came a timid thought as he watched Alexandra step forward to finally take the sphere into custody. But then she stopped, halfway there.

Abruptly, the miniature ball bloated out to normal size, making Harland's eyes widen as it burst open with a dangerously red aura. "What the hell?!" he heard himself yell against the accumulating figure of a flying beast. _Impossible! It opened on its own!_ His fevered eyes turned down to the ball once again, but to his dismay, it was being pulled beneath the metallic surface of the device. _Damn, it was connected to the machine this whole time…?_ The hardened form an ancient monster melted into his vision, spreading its heavy violet-gray wings with a curdling cry. _…So this was a trap_, he finally surmised to himself, staring irately through his mask.

The creature's shearing teeth stuck out of its elongated mouth like daggers, a menacing warning of things to come. Its snaking tail seemed unfairly large, given the way its spear-like tip whipped around so wildly. Rocky leather coated its body with differing shades of dark gray, and the tiny pair of bony protrusions from its head almost seemed a crown of sorts, perhaps in declaration of its own supremacy. Vicious claws twitched with anxiety as its massive wings beat at the encircling fog, but the most unsettling feature of this prehistoric monster was the wild shimmer in its crimson eyes. A deep, ancient instinct all but forgotten in the passage of time: bloodlust. A pure, unassailable impulse, driven only by the most elemental of emotions.

"…Aerodactyl," came Alexandra's whisper, unable to keep the shock from her voice. "One of the most aggressive creatures from the ancient world…"

"…Fantastic," Harland groaned, eyes glued to the flying beast. _No way we'll get out of here without alerting the security team. Not with this thing making such a huge ruckus, anyway…_ Annoyance gripped his face while he took a moment to tap a pair of fingers against each wrist. "I'm gonna kill that doc-bastard…" He stretched out his hands, fully extending his fingers, and then contracted them as a low hum rose from his charcoal gloves, indicating that an electric current had successfully been established. _Guess there's no time to play around today…_ A fist formed out of his right hand, bolts of static jumping between the fibers of his glove. Though, it was difficult to keep it perfectly stable, as he knew it would be. With such a strong fluctuation of energy coursing through to his fingertips, he couldn't maintain complete control over his hand movements. They shook involuntarily with slight spasms, but it didn't hurt. Nothing ever did.

Alexandra stepped closer, explaining the gist of the plan, "Try to keep it alive. I'll break into the machine and retrieve the Pokéball so we can re-capture it." Her flat-mouthed mask seemed just as lifeless as her words.

"Ugh, are you kiddin' me?" he complained, keeping his gaze steadily on the frantic monster's flapping wings. "That doctor sicked this thing on us. The guy that we were supposed to help turned on us, so the whole mission is void, now."

"It doesn't matter," she told him, "We can finish the mission without him."

"Gah…" he muttered back at her, thankful that Aerodactyl seemed too confused by all the steam to notice them. "Guess I'm the distraction, eh?"

"I'll break into the machine so we can just call it back to its ball again," she told him, "Just buy me enough time."

"Fine," he sniffed back at her, rubbing his gloves together in spite of his words. _At least I'll finally see some action..._

"And don't go crazy with your electricity," she warned.

Harland flicked a disgruntled stare at her. "It doesn't matter," he said, "I don't feel pain, anymore, remember?" _I suppose I've got another doctor to thank for that…_

"Yes, I know," she went on, "You have no pain receptors, but that is still several thousand volts. A strong current could cause the rest of your body to spasm, if it ever gets past your hands. And just because you can't feel the pain doesn't mean it isn't damaging to you."

If he hadn't known better, he might have thought she was worried about him. "Meh, whatever," he threw over his shoulder, darting forward to engage his opponent directly. _I'd welcome any kind of feeling…_

Mid-run, he ducked low, aiming to use the misty whirlwind to his advantage, but Aerodactyl caught sight of him before he could get close enough, and swooped down, thrusting its head forward to snap at him with its serrating teeth. He leapt to the side, just out of its mouth's reach, and hooked his arm around a monstrous wing, digging in for a better grip against its flailing movement. Aerodactyl shrieked and twisted around as piercing bolts rushed through its body, making it all the more difficult for him to keep a strong hold. The monster swirled wildly, trying to cast him off amidst the turbulent fog streaming by its hardened face, then cut a path straight upward, sending Harland's grip falling down its side. As soon as his hands released the resurrected creature, it seemed to flinch back to itself, still fending off the last surges in its body, but when its tail lashed around, Harland managed to catch a fresh hold of the creature, pushing it back into a frantic spiral.

Grasping its triangular tail as best he could with his jittering hands, Harland caught a glance of his partner down below, trying to break into the machine that held this monster's cage. _All I have to do is keep it from getting in her way, right? She can get inside anything, so it shouldn't take very long…_ But as Aerodactyl whirled back around with his body flinging around behind it, another view showed him something a little disheartening. The machine burst into multiple hunks of metalworking, but instead of finding just one Pokéball, she had discovered dozens of them.

_Okay, so this might take a little longer than I thought…_

**Friday 02:19 GMT / 2:19 AM**  
"Who the hell are you?" Leon asked, his voice fraught with demanding resentment. "Aren't we supposed to be helping each other complete this mission?" He couldn't take his hand away from the slender hilt of his sword as he stared at the doctor standing before him.

"Just call me _Dr. Achan_, my boy. All my victims do." His deviant smile seemed almost innocent, somehow. "You see, I've nothing personal against you or your comrades. It's just that my mission won't be complete until I've killed you. And I _do_ follow through my missions. I'm sure you understand…"

"…'Mission'?" Leon asked, still unable to wrap his head around a tangible reason for this man's betrayal. _Did Klandstein get him to turn on us?_

"So sorry, my boy, but I'm afraid that's all you need to know." He still smirked back at Leon, seeming even more delighted by the secrets held behind his lips. "I always like to give my name before I finish an assignment. It just feels like it gives a more comfortable sense of closure, don't you think?"

Leon didn't bother answering. He only watched the doctor carefully, trying to prepare himself for what he knew to be inevitable. _I don't know anything about this man, but he seems to know a lot about me…_

"Oh, but I suppose I don't really have time to make nice," Achan went on, rubbing his sterile hands together. A rather large needle slipped out of his bleached sleeves, rolling suspiciously against his fingertips. Then, without another word, the man shot forward, needle held down below his chest, poised for stabbing.

Yet Leon was already prepared for a frontal assault, ripping his sword from its sheath as he swept a few steps backwards. And Achan was there, standing right next to him, a wide grin splitting his pointed face as his needle flickered towards the target chest. Leon's torso twisted to the right, narrowly dodging what he was sure would be deadly toxin, and then slammed his left arm down against his side, locking the other man's wrist in a strangle hold. One hand was rendered harmless for a moment, letting Leon tear his blade around to cut at Achan's free arm. But the doctor caught the hand clutching his sword and kicked at his leg, preventing a fatal strike to his body while yanking the black-clad man to the ground. As he fell, Leon's left arm wrapped under the doctor's needle-tipped one, effectively pulling the other man to the ground with him.

Struggling against each other on that sheen tile, the two men seemed almost at a stalemate, countering each others' hits, until the doctor's needle was sent reeling away from the pair, piercing the far wall with a dull thud. Achan kicked away from his opponent while Leon flung himself back to his feet.

Standing across from each other, they stared one another down for a silent moment until a screeching cry invaded the chamber, garnering a confused glance from Leon until the doctor spoke up again.

"…Ah, that must be the Aerodactyl greeting your friends upstairs." Achan only smirked in that irritating fashion again, yet this time seemed a bit less emphatic. "It's true; you've a bit more skill about you than I suspected. For that much, I commend you."

Leon remained wordless, only eyeing the man with fastened vigilance. _He's fast… I can barely keep up with him, but my sword can still give me an advantage…_ Suspicion dotted the gaze behind his white, lion-nosed mask as he tried to keep his mind focused on the fight.

"Good thing I took extra precautions," Dr. Achan sputtered, swiftly tapping a pair of fingers against his left wrist.

The ceiling trembled at the brim of Leon's vision. _A trap?!_ Metal bars fell from above, penetrating the floor below, digging out bits of tile. Frantic eyes jumped from each side of his new cage, searching for any kind of way out. The tip of his sword grazed a pole, sending a slew of sparks buzzing towards the ground. _Electrified…_

"You like it?" the doctor continued with a merry shrug. "I only had a couple weeks to install it properly, but I think it works pretty well, don't you?"

_…So this whole time, he was luring me towards this trap_, he assessed to himself, starting to realize what kind of person he was dealing with here. _This guy's got the advantage here… There could be traps anywhere…_

"Well," Achan went on, brushing off his long sleeves with a satisfied expression settling into his face, "I think we've just about wrapped this up, wouldn't you say?"

"…Why's that?" Leon piped up, letting his hand wander inside his vest.

"Oh c'mon, already," he said, seeming almost exasperated, "There's no way out of that cage. Force won't get you anywhere and that floor is twenty feet of solid concrete. None of you three were given Pokémon for this mission, so there's really nothing that you can…" He trailed off as he saw Leon pull out a red and white ball.

Leon blinked behind his mask. _He knows that we weren't given partners? Hm… I guess he was briefed about the details of the mission beforehand…_ Glancing at the Pokéball in his hand for a moment, he found himself glad that he had decided to take it with him… and perhaps a little grateful to the poor kid whom had lost it. Though, with all that had happened recently, he'd never gotten a chance to discover what was actually inside the thing. _Please be something useful…_ muttered a thought as he pressed a thumb against the button at its center, letting the sphere pop open with a spew of red light towards the doctor.

A relieving sigh escaped his mouth as watched Venusaur take form just outside his cage. Its bluish-green bulk hit the floor with a heavy thud, rustling the petals of the huge, red-orange flower on its back and casting off a few loose leaves like feathers from a bird. A decisive bellow boomed out of its lungs, garnering a contented smile behind Leon's mask.

Achan's disgruntled face couldn't help but let out a slow whine, "Aw… what the _hell_…?" A hand rifled through his lab coat, apparently searching for some kind of counter measure. "I hate having to resort to these kinds of methods…" He pulled out a pair of tiny spheres and let them expand within his grip. Both spilled forth a faintly crimson glow, soon morphing into the forms of two comparatively smaller creatures. One seemed only a rock at first glance, and a rather modest-sized one, at that; however, the slender figure of what could only be a worm peeked out of the white-rimmed holes carved through its maroon-colored shell. The beadiest of eyes looked blankly at the grass dinosaur standing only a few feet away from it. The other creature seemed only slightly larger, thought much quicker as it darted around in the air, hardly able to keep still for a moment's glimpse. Translucent wings buzzed with exceeding fervor as its bug-eyed stare sparkled with a slight shine in the midst of its golden body. Short, almost hook-like appendages poked out from what might've been its head, gnashing with a sort of anxious ease.

Leon quirked an eyebrow at the odd pair of monsters. _A… Shuckle and a… Ninjask?_ The choices seemed awkward, yet strangely fitting for this doctor person, if only because they were bugs. He wondered if there was more here than met the eye.

**Friday 02:22 GMT / 2:22 AM**  
Harland hit the ground with a thud, skidding on his side just a few feet from Alexandra. He shook the slight daze from his vision, trying to come back to his senses after Aerodactyl had succeeded in throwing him from its tail. He looked up to throw a few words at his comrade. "Found it yet?"

"It could be any these," she explained, her gloves hovering over the cluster of Pokéball, "And there are more monsters in each one of them, it seems…" Her mask turned towards him, as if at a loss for what else she could do.

Sighing, he brushed himself off. "Well, just keep trying them until you get it," he told her, rolling his shoulders as he prepared himself for another go at the ancient beast. But when he realized that he had almost tried to comfort her just now, he added, "And hurry up, dammit." A scowl hid in his face as he darted away from her again, letting the sight of her dwindle into nothingness behind that whirling steam wall.

Aerodactyl's shrieking cry echoed through the chamber again, making it difficult to pinpoint its position. He felt very much like a hapless little worm, merely waiting to be swept up and eaten by a giant bird from the sky, yet when the swirling fog suddenly changed directions on him, he got all the warning he needed. It swooped down from behind just as he spun around and dropped his left hand to the floor, bringing up his right to hook against the brunt of its rocky wing while its enormous mouth passed over his hip. The shock against his arm might've hurt if he could feel it, but the numbing sensation still seemed to stifle his control of the appendage. He winced against the furious beating of its wings, thrusting his entire body up and down through the air as his legs flailed for a grip against its neck. Aerodactyl reeled forward, cutting upwards and downwards, side to side, trying to throw him off again, but when his legs finally locked around the monster's gray throat, its movements suddenly became jerkier, as if panicking.

"Ah crap," muttered a low breath. Harland pulled himself over its back, tightening his leg-hold so as not to be flung from atop the thing, but his hands still struggled for proper anchors, fumbling over the dull spikes along Aerodactyl's spine while its body staggered through the cloudy air. He couldn't help but growl against the monster's contorting body, so he decided to throw his hands around the neck as well, swinging himself around so that he was facing the back of its double-pronged head.

As soon as his legs had a firm grip again, Harland's gloves wrapped around its pair of makeshift horns. Immediately, the creature cocked back, disliking the electricity burrowing into its skull.

"Gah, just hurry up and pass out or something!" he yelled at it, leaning in on his hands so that he wouldn't get so much steam running past his eyes. "I'm not supposed to kill you, you know!" The whole time, he felt like he was riding a bull in mid-air, fighting its twisting and kicking movements.

Aerodactyl seemed uninterested in his advice, instead dropping its jaw open to let a swarm of radiant energy accumulate in its mouth.

"Ah, don't do that…" he heard himself complain, watching the scalding beam erupt from the monster mouth, knifing a hole straight through the encircling steam to slam against the far wall.

A burn mark scarred the previously whitewashed surface, leaving burdensome cracks and crumbling acrylic. The infuriated monster only screamed out again as another burst of energy rose in its mouth.

_Damn_, Harland thought, _I can't just let it shoot up the whole place. This building's pretty sturdy, but…_ His quaking hands slapped against both sides of its head as he leaned even closer to it, letting his chest rest sideways through the stumpy protrusions on its head. Arms entangled the brunt of its skull, reaching all the way beneath to get he monster into a firm vice grip, only inches below his own cringing face. "You gonna force me to kill you, you bastard?!" His muscles strained against the monster's head, trying to keep from moving too wildly, but another streaming Hyper Beam burst away from its throat, crashing into the floor below amidst an entourage of scouring sparks.

Teeth clenched with increasing frustration, Harland stretched his hands all the way around Aerodactyl's head, tapping his left wrist with three fingers. Visible electric bolts leapt off the fibers of his gloves, illuminating the increased power. _Any more than that and it could be dangerous for me…_ a thought reminded him. His hands clapped back against the enraged creature, sending a renewed jolt through its body.

The Old World beast wrenched forward, spiraling through air with its eyes flinched shut against the pain. Harland, still vehemently clutching the bulk of its head, the monster neared a wall. Its wings beat against the surface for a moment, as if desperately searching for aid from the thing. But when its eyes reopened, staring at that sterilized white eternity, they changed.

A sudden glimmer took presence in that crimson iris, pulling another yell from its thrashing jaws. Its neck jerked left, loosening the man's grip for an instant while its clawed feet scratched at the wall before it. And then, an enormous crack broke that perfect white, pushing out bits of shattered paint. Another crack cut straight downward, then another, and another, until several sections of the vast wall were completely outlined with grating black strokes.

Harland's eyes stretched all the way open as chunks of heavy rock tore themselves from the wall, only to float there next to Aerodactyl as if stuck in some kind of inconceivable orbit. More and more heaps of stone broke away, slowly encompassing the monster. They waited there, as if watching him.

_What the hell?_ Without waiting another moment, Harland brought his hands together and touched all five fingers to his wrist. Immediately, his hands crooked back and began to spasm uncontrollably. Only his arms guided their placement now. Crackling sparks snapped at the air around his fingertips as he thrust them towards the skin of the monster, forcing it to slam against the wall from the sudden upsurge.

A boulder pelted him in the stomach, driving the air out of his lungs, yet he wouldn't lose focus. Another slammed against his back, crumbling to pieces. He thought he heard a bone fracture, but he wasn't about to let go, even at the sight of jagged white streaks climbing up his sleeves.

**Friday 02:15 GMT / 2:15 AM**  
With a relieving breath, Cole leaned against the wall of Mabel's temporary room, letting his eyes graze over a plethora of new decorations. Things didn't seem quite so white and stale anymore. In fact, the place seemed downright girly. Though, there still seemed to be a handful of objects that hinted at a more academic lifestyle. A short bookstand stood by her bed, right alongside a stack of popular teenage magazines. The light pink curtains left the window into the hall quite visible as they dangled next to a tall reading lamp. But by far, the most surprising combination was the Japanese-cat-faced clock, ticking away the minutes with a swinging tail, and the pair of gaming systems, lights still buzzing beneath her large television set. An eyebrow rose as he looked from one picture to another, then back to Mabel. She certainly hadn't _seemed_ like the gaming type…

"Mm?" came a inquiring sound from the girl lying in her bed, "You didn't think I played games like that, did you?"

Cole averted his gaze, placing a hand back behind his bushy hair. "Ah, that's not…" But he knew she'd pegged his thoughts. "…Sorry, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions or anything…" He let one eye look back at her, as if checking to see if it was alright for the other one as well.

She only laughed. "It's alright," Mabel elaborated, "I suppose I don't exactly send that sort of signal, huh?"

"Yep." Steven nodded with folded arms. "She's actually kind of a tomboy," he explained to Cole, "Which is really weird. I mean, she's probably better than me at half the games we play." He pushed a finger up against his spectacles.

"Hm," Mabel went on with a manicured fingernail to her chin, "Should I tell him about your freaky obsession with dolls, Steven?" She blinked. "Oh, woopsy…" She only smirked as her brother's eyes widened.

"Action figures! Gah!" His mouth twisted with discomfort as he looked back at Cole. "I don't collect dolls, man. Just cool action figures from my childhood, y'know?" His face seemed almost pleading.

Cole nodded convincingly, but his eyes strayed back to Mabel as she silently mouthed the word, _DOLLS_. He couldn't keep the smile from splitting his face, letting it pull him closer to the bed with the two siblings. "Your secrets are safe with me," he laughed.

"Hey," the seemingly tireless girl started again, "You guys want to stay up a little while and play some games or something? I'm not very sleepy…"

Glancing at each other, the two boys shrugged with approval. "Sure, what the heck."

However, heavy footsteps from the hallway stole their attention. More than one person by the sound of it, rushing with some sense of urgency. A tall, navy-blue-uniformed man stepped through the doorway, his ice-colored eyes instantly falling upon the three teenagers. Short, black hair topped his head, complementing his dark skin and rigorous facial features. He seemed to have a need for his muscular build, perhaps hinted at by the sharply cut suit, flared open as if to accentuate the stress on his mind. A small, golden badge clasped onto his belt, but it was the holstered firearm that really drew one's eye. Buckled into place like that of a police officer, the gun certainly made the man exude authority. "You three," were the first words of his dire-toned voice, "We're evacuating all underground floors. Come with me."

"Evacuating?" Steven chimed in first, "What's going on, Kard?" He stood, adjusting the slim belt around his faded blue jeans as he watched for the man's reply.

The apparent security guard blinked, realizing who was talking to him. "Oh, May and Steve," he restarted more familiarly, only a questioning glance given to Cole, "I need you and your friend here to follow me. A silent alarm's been tripped."

More than a little confused, Cole suddenly found himself tagging along as his two friends followed Kard. A flurry of several more uniforms streaked by his vision, rushing between rooms and escorting patients to the elevators. Everything had suddenly become confusing and chaotic, he realized.

"Your parents are probably worried about you two," Kard explained, beginning to push his way through a throng of people, "We'd best get you up to 'em quickly." His robust hands latched onto each sibling, pulling them along with him.

"Hold on," Mabel broke in, away from his grip, "We're no more important than these people here." Her furrowing expression seemed to explain her intentions even more clearly than her words. "Let them go first."

Cole's squinting eye focused on her. "But…" he heard himself plead weakly, "But… alarms are bad…" Not quite the ridiculously convincing argument he'd imagined inside his head, but no one seemed to be listening anyway.

**Friday 00:49 GMT / 12:49 AM**  
The room of Captain Toc seemed hollow. Now that he was Sergeant Scott again, Captain Toc hardly existed anymore. Sitting there on that bed that wasn't really his, eyes half-drawn, he could hardly bring himself to move. _I feel so pathetic_, assessed a depressing thought. _Here I am, the big 'protector of justice' or some crud, and I can't even go help someone who's just been a victim of circumstance his whole life…_

He shook the words away, knowing that he would only become more upset if he thought about it any further. Leaving to help now would decimate his entire reason for being here. Besides, considering all the evidence, Leon was a criminal of the law. There was no way to justify the action in the eyes of his superiors… or anyone else, for that matter.

"Having a rough day, Captain Toc?" rang a pestering voice.

Toc didn't bother turning around; he only sat there, hunched over the edge of his bed. It wasn't really someone he wanted to talk to anyway.

"I would've thought that you'd be ecstatic over the fact that headquarters would promote a Neanderthal like yourself." It was Captain Nathaniel, of course. Not exactly Toc's favorite person in the world.

Toc only said the first thing that came to mind. "Neanderthals had larger craniums than modern day humans, you know. So your insult may actually be a claim that I have greater brain capacity than you." He stared at the floor, scarcely even listening to himself.

There was an uncertain pause, followed by a clearing throat. "Well…" the other Captain began again, apparently trying for a new angle of attack, "It would seem as though your little friend has been done away with, wouldn't it?"

Toc rolled his eyes, hardly in the mood for dealing with this person. "Do you have some business with me?" Standing to his feet, he moved to busy himself with packing again.

"Ah yes…" the slender man in the doorway restarted, "I've discovered something interesting in regards to that intruder you apprehended the other day."

He only kept stuffing things into boxes, unwilling to show his discomfort. "That so?"

"Quite. And it's the strangest thing…" A kind of contorted pleasure resounded in his voice. "You see, I took a blood sample…"

_As much as I expected_, he thought wryly, slowly turning around to look at the thin man.

"…The public database shows a match with one _Kaj Jansen_," Captain Nathaniel explained.

_Jack's alias, of course. What's this guy playing at…?_ Toc only tilted his head. "Am I supposed to recognize that name?"

"That all depends," Nathaniel mused with a grin, "The real question is, do you recognize the name _Jack Lepton_?"

Not even batting an eye, Toc stared right back at the man. "Nope." _How in holy hell did he find his real name?_ "Who's it belong to?"

"Well, according to _my_ database, the one which I believe to be dozens of times more accurate, the blood sample matches perfectly with the name 'Jack Lepton,' an agent of the federal police, no less." That irritating smile wouldn't leave the man's face.

_…That ain't good._ "Mm," Toc started to reply, pursing his lips thoughtfully, "How'd you come up with that conclusion?"

The other captain ran a hand through his oily, black hair. "Ah, well, I used to work at a very… _special_ hospital. Needless to say, I've got quite a tremendous blood bank stored away."

His face flattened. "You can't even imagine how weird and creepy I find you, right now." _Jack won't last another day inside this base with that kind of information hanging over his head. Gotta get him outta here…_ "But why are you telling me this?" A finger pushed up on his sunglasses.

"Oh, of course, of course…" He folded his arms, apparently coming around to his entire reason for standing in the Captain's doorway. "After seeing how my data contradicted that of the public database, I suddenly had an idea. It was a bit of a stretch, but hey… I've had a lot of time on my hands, recently."

"…I wouldn't doubt it."

Nathaniel smirked at his remark. "I've always had my suspicions about you, Captain Toc."

He quirked an eyebrow capriciously. "…Um, I hope this isn't going where I think it is…"

The other man rolled his eyes before continuing with a hint of exasperation, "To think that even _you_ have a history with genetic mutation. The very idea is almost too much to comprehend."

Toc's demeanor tightened. _What's this guy been up to, exactly?_

"Of course, _your_ mutations are little less... artificial, no?" Nathaniel's pale face was suddenly all business. "Yes, Sergeant Manning, I've uncovered the secret behind your blood."

He couldn't help but grit his teeth. "And how's that, exactly?"

"A simple matter of letting my subordinates dig a little further than they usually do," he explained, "I never would've thought that our very own Captain Toc had inherited the _Eyes of Thunder_, had it not been for those noticeably missing files from Mr. Lepton's current mission statement. Why, the existence of the 'Syndicate Infiltration Unit' could have eluded my knowledge entirely if not for the indication of a 'partner' on this assignment. And lo and behold, when I went to discover who this conspirator could possibly be, I found the person's information of a classified order that I had yet to discover a password for. Surely, this was a clear indicator that I had overlooked something, so I had my men look into this matter, and from there, it was mere hours before I came across a blood sample. Perfectly matching with yours, wouldn't you know..."

_Aw, dammit._ Toc smirked, quietly wondering how long this self-absorbed captain would continue rambling.

"It was then that I realized: I _did_ have your blood in my bank, but it was old. It was the blood from before you received your gift, unenhanced by the ancient energies that now inhabit your body. The blood sample I took from _Captain Toc_ two years ago, was quite different from the blood sample of _Scott T. Manning_ three years before. Truly an astonishing convenience for you, Mr. Manning, don't you agree? Had you been just about anyone else, I would have detected your presence immediately and had you executed."

Toc inched toward corner of his bed, less than a foot away from his knee. _Well, I guess this frees me up to go help Leo, eh?_ He nearly grinned at the wry thought. _Yeah, all I have to do is get past this guy, pull Jack out of his cell, flee past a few hundred armed guards, and then find my way to Klandstein Tower in Ecruteak City, sometime in the next hour and a half or so... Sounds doable._ Slowly, he dug his boot beneath the chunky mattress, and let his fingers wander closer toward the opening in his coat, biding his time as he waited for the right moment.

"Yes, they are mysterious things, those eyes of yours." Nathaniel paused to look at Toc more intently, almost as if trying to study him on the spot. "Given to you by the great bird Zapdos, correct? Though, I'm still a bit curious as to their actual abilities. Even your files would not tell me precisely. Something about _energy absorption_, but that seemed so vague..." Eyes flickering at Toc's anxious hands, Nathaniel squinted. "Perhaps you'll be so kind as to show us first hand." Four enormous men stepped in behind him, dwarfing the skinnier captain. Each held a large rifle and a rather unpleasant expression.

Toc did everything at once. His right leg flung the mattress at the door, pushing Nathaniel back into the hall, and one hand dug into his coat as the other tore off his sunglasses, revealing his pupil-less, jet-black eyes. A handgun appeared in his searching grasp, instantly losing its safety as the other hand looked for a partner. A glance at the unlit ceiling made him regret having the lights off, but the sight of his dying computer screen was a bit more encouraging. He could already feel electricity surging behind his retinas. His body propelled forward, shoving the burdensome mattress all the way through the door until it slammed against the wall on the other side. His five friends were waiting for him, each decisively holding him at gunpoint.

"You know," Nathaniel began again, "I'd rather not have to kill you." At Toc's silent expression, he clarified, "Well, not yet, that is. Who knows what might change once your body shuts down? I wouldn't want to miss anything interesting…"

"I always knew you didn't love me for my brains," Toc whined sarcastically, buying him the time he needed. His blackened irises suddenly lit with a fiercely golden gleam as the hall lights fizzled out. _Only enough to stun them for a second._ Electricity burst from his eyes, crackling all around his enemies with static discharge. For an instant, their eyes widened with confusion, skipping away from the target of their guns, but that was all he wanted. A pair of bullets burrowed into the feet of the two nearest guards as Toc leapt straight left, hugging the wall while an extended elbow decked the last man barring his path.

He didn't bother looking back as he tore down the hallway, trench coat soaring out behind him. _Gotta get to Jack_, was the only thing running through his head. His rushing footsteps garnered strange looks from the lower rank members in the hall, but he didn't have time to wonder whether they were aware of his secret or not. All that mattered was getting his partner and getting out as fast as possible. Already, he could feel his eyes begin to tingle again, dimming light fixtures as he passed under. Without his sunglasses, it was difficult to regulate the passage of energy unless he really focused his vision, but his frantic eyes wouldn't let that happen.

The antechamber to the holding cells reared up on him, its heavy tile changing the tone of his hurried movement. Another black-clad man came up by his side, apparently with a question by the look on his face, but Toc wasn't about to make time for him. The glass wall used for security checks cracked tremendously under a slew of bullets, and the sound of shattering glass greeted his heavy work boots as he pushed through towards Lepton's cell. _Of course they'd have to put him in the highest security block…_ reminded an unpleasant thought. Gunfire echoed off the walls as he blew through another checkpoint.

"Captain!" shouted a following voice, "What the hell are you doing, Captain Toc!?"

"No time," he breathed, tapping a tiny sphere on his belt with a spare finger. The red-white ball ballooned out, spitting a crimson beam to his side. A hefty canine-shape emerged from the ensuing glow, its charcoal fur immediately taking an aggressive stance as it looked to Toc for a command. Silver-gray horns curved back behind its head, complementing the sharpness of its growl with a sort of demonic veneer. "Hold 'em off, Hell Hound."

The creature's swishing tail was all the answer he needed before running ahead to blast through yet another security check, broken glass bounding all across the concrete floor. A distant man's painful yell pulled a toothy chuckle out of Toc's face. "Ah… I love dogs." His buckled work boots crunched against the crystalline mess until he finally managed to find his partner's cell in solitary confinement. The huge, rusted door sunk lower into the ground than the other cells, making it seem more like he was forcing his way into a box, rather than a room.

_Please be alive…_ He couldn't quite shake the morbidity from his mind as bullets ripped the bindings on the door. Thrusting it open, he shouted, "You ain't dead yet?!"

"Ergh," replied a groggy moan, "I'm trying to sleep here…" And there was Jack, sitting against one of the tiny walls with his arms folded and eyes barely slit open. He looked like hell, to say the least, but Toc figured the guy hadn't had much time to keep himself pretty. As soon as he made eye contact, his expression changed. "Did you screw things up already?" he asked, standing up as straight as the low ceiling would allow him, his battered business suit seeming even more ragged and worn than it did two days ago.

For a second, Toc just looked at him. "Yep. _Really_ badly, too."

"Aw, crap…"

**Friday 02:25 GMT / 12:25 AM**  
Bladed leaves sliced through the dim air, ricocheting off the rock worm's rigid shell. Venusaur stamped its feet with distaste, trying to lock its heavy green eyes on the flashing image of Ninjask. A quick slash at the plant billowing out of its back provoked a counterattacking vine, only to leave it snapping at the air where the dodgy insect had been.

Leon hardly paid attention to the fight, though. It might've been a bit cold-hearted of him, but Venusaur was mainly just a distraction while he tried to figure a way out of his barred captivity. Perhaps the veggie-dinosaur could've aided him with that, if not for having its own business to attend to.

He growled mentally, eyes scanning the poorly lit area around him for clues, trying not to let the sense of hopelessness lurking in the back of his mind take root. His gaze fell to the ground, sparking a curious thought. _'Twenty feet of solid concrete,' he said?_ Fingers tightened around the finely woven hilt of his sword as he looked toward the ceiling. _Ugh, it'd be easier to just break through there, but I'd probably be buried under the rubble… and it might endanger my teammates up there…_

Abruptly, a curt shockwave rattled the entire room, fanning the urgent flames in his mind.

_They're in trouble..._ One last glance at his lone Venusaur made him grit his teeth. _Guess I don't have much choice here…_ The eerie glow of his blade vanished beneath its metal-patchwork sheath.

He slipped off his left glove, yet kept it in his hand as the other dug beneath his vest. A bundle of tiny spheres appeared in his grip, smote in ashy color. _Probably a bit reckless of me…_ he thought wryly, _But oh well._ Careful not to drop one of his bombs, he packed them inside his glove and laid the garment on the ground. He drew his sword again, clutching it with both hands, poised right above his volatile cluster like some sort of irate scorpion's tail.

"What are you doing over there?" interrupted an apparently stressed Dr. Achan. "Not planning anything stupid, I hope..." The man nearly sighed as he stared at Leon through their brawling monsters. It seemed as though a few stray leaves had grazed the man's head, inviting beads of hesitant blood across his pale cheek. "I already told you; that's solid concrete. You'll only snap that puny, little blade in half if you stab it into the floor."

Leon didn't bother replying. Several hours of research had already revealed the reason as to why this weapon glowed with such a nocuous aura. _The 'Gastly Blade of Brass Tower.'_ It was a difficult thing to control, he'd found, but during his short time with the thing, Leon had managed to grasp some of its power. _Concentrate..._ The tip of his sword tapped against the package on the ground. His eyes tightened shut and his breathing came to a stop as the blade's ethereal glow faded into a transparent aura, pulling his explosives along for the ride. Even over the continuing Pokémon battle, he could here the doctor's disgruntled growls.

A sharp pain stabbed Leon's shoulder, making the sword's image flicker under his grip, but he didn't break away. He thrust the sword straight downward, dropping him to his knees. Another needle grazed his shoulder, tearing off a chunk of black cloth along with a sliver of stinging flesh. His eyes burst back open, letting the sword take full form again, stuck there, holstered into the floor, slightly displaced concrete bulging up against the blade's rim.

Leon looked up just in time to avoid getting hit in the face with another needle, promptly yanking the other one from his shoulder as well. He could already start to feel its numbing effect loosening the muscles in his arm, but he didn't have time to dwell on it further. Another shot plunged into the side of his chest, immediately pumping some undesirable concoction into his bloodstream. "Guh," he breathed, falling to the one elbow he could still feel. He could feel his lungs beginning to heave irregularly in his chest, tensing the muscles around his eyes as a reluctant panic trekked through his head.

"What now, Mr. Resourceful?" came the doctor's mocking satisfaction, "Even if your body _is_ more resilient against poisons and neurotoxins like my report claimed, that drug will immobilize you long enough for me to kill you with my bare hands."

Leon's frantic eyes couldn't even look up past Achan's white boots on the other side of the cage.

"Besides," the man added slowly, "You've no way to ignite those precious explosives of yours, do you?" A sort of unraveling contentment spilled from the man's voice. "What did plan to use, after burying them two feet into solid rock?"

The numbing sensation had nearly taken his entire body now. Straining eyelids glanced past the hand he had since lost dominance over, surprised to find it still clinging desperately to the sword's hilt. _Only one chance left…_ Coughing violently, he spat a response to Achan's question, "Your cage."

His free hand lunged forward, clutching the electrified bar just inches from his head. The doctor's shocked remark was lost under the surge of concentrated energy tearing through Leon's body. Instantly, his neck flung back and his limbs flailed jaggedly, conducting the electric pulse straight to the metal of his sword and down into the explosive powder.

The ground heaved up on him, ripping him free of his jolting grasp just before crumbling away from below. His hands flailed for some kind of grip as he suddenly realized he was falling. He only came away with handfuls of rubble.

A painful grunt stole most of the air from his lungs as his body bashed against solid ground again, squirming uncomfortably atop a slew of busted rocks and what felt like part of the cage he'd been trapped in. Trying to regain his breath, he opened his eyes, only to find a sea of darkness before him. Faint light filter down from where he'd fallen, making him gaze up at a distance that must have been close to twenty feet, if not more.

_'Solid concrete,' huh?_ assessed an irritable thought, still a little beaten up from the less-than-graceful landing. Traces of the electric shock lingered all throughout his body, but at least the numbing sensation seemed to have been driven away. He couldn't help but twitch a little, unable to control the shivers prancing along his skin. _Where am I?_ He took a few careful steps forward, right arm wrapped around the side of his stomach. _The building's blueprints didn't show a floor below B6… I thought I sensed something down here, but… an entire secret room?_ He tried to let his eyes adjust to the stale shadows, but suddenly, after only a few short steps, he froze.

_…What is this?_ he asked himself, eyes widening for a strained look around at the black wall. A kind of dense pressure hovered around his mind; he could sense something there, emanating from every conceivable direction.

For a moment, Leon forgot what he was doing. All he could think about was this foreign presence. It was difficult to pin down to any specific thing. Most everything he sensed had some kind of familiarity to it that would let him know what he was dealing with. Something like anger would have a sort of 'heated' wave to it, rushed and chaotic as crackling flame. But this was different. It felt more like a vacuum to him, as if the mere thought of it was attempting to pull him with some unseen vortex. And then, he realized what it was.

_Hunger._ More insatiable than he'd ever imagined. It was as if thousands of starving people were huddled behind that deathly curtain, staring at him ravenously. It was a menacing feeling, clutching to his mind, begging to devour him. _Such a potent desire_, marveled an uncertain thought, _It's like a deafening bloodlust…_ He couldn't help but back up a few steps, unwilling to abandon his morsels of light from the laboratory above. _Is there… a monster in this place?_ His head cocked back at the awkward question, suddenly feeling like a frightened child looking under his bed. _What an ominous aura…_

His heel knocked against something that felt more metallic than all the rest of the rubble, and he looked down to catch sight of his sword, smote with an ashy black around the tip, but still relatively unscathed from the explosion. Immediately, his gloveless hand welcomed the blade into its clutches, attempting to hold it steady against the pervasive darkness surrounding him.

Bits of crumbling concrete sprinkled down above his vision, pulling his gaze upward to see the hole he made beginning to widen. _Oh no!_ a thought shouted at the ceiling, _It can't support Venusaur's weight, anymore!_ Rumbling grew heavier as chunks of plaster and concrete hurtled towards him. He threw himself to the right, but found an indistinguishable shape in his way. Without thinking, the sound the tumbling rock propelled his legs over the object, unsure of where they would meet solid ground again.

**Friday 02:38 GMT / 2:38 AM**  
Cole shifted uncomfortably as the elevator doors slid shut, disliking how silent the small chamber was. There must've been at least people stuffed inside the thing, but no one said a word. He figured it was mainly because they were all security guards, save him and the Klandstein siblings, but that didn't really ease his mind, especially with that stale elevator music dawdling around his ears. His hand finally began to drift away from the pair of Pokéballs at his hip as that strange feeling of vertical movement washed over him.

Abruptly, the floor swept away from his feet, throwing him into the person behind him. The tiny room heaved up and down, shaking everyone around like a jar of loose change. And then it stopped again, unmoving.

"What was that?!" Cole's mouth blurted.

No one seemed to have an answer; they all just waited, wearing the same wary expression on their faces.

A sudden snapping sound cracked the air above his head. He looked up just in time to feel the elevator begin a freefall straight towards the bottom of the shaft. Panic paralyzed his thoughts, letting his limbs flail hopelessly, lungs struggling just to breathe. Eyes stood frozen open, unable to move, save for slight shivers of fright, and all that ran through his mind was this inhuman sensation of falling, as if being consumed in a nightmare.

The cringing sound of the crash brought everything to halt. For a while, Cole felt like they had all died, even himself. Atop a pile of bodies, he could already sense the dread creeping into his mind, unwilling to let him move from his spot there. He tried to shake pessimism from his head, but it still lingered. His body felt limp, as if it had decided to give up before him. But then, through the pounding in his ears, he caught remnants of breath. The person below him stirred, shoving Cole to his trembling feet.

He felt his hand slap the 'Open Door' button, but it took a few moments. Dented metal groaned and screeched out of his way, letting him tumble to a concrete floor. _A-agh…_ started a shaky thought, _Falling… is the worst feeling… ever…_ A robust hand gripped his shoulder, pulling him to his feet again.

"You okay, little man?" asked a rumbling voice.

It was Kard, Cole realized after a few dizzying blinks. He only nodded, still having to force the air into his lungs. The tremulous elevator light was the only thing illuminating whatever dark pit they'd fallen into.

"Yeah, you're okay," the large black man confirmed with a wearisome grin. Behind Kard, the elevator's victims were regrouping, those blue uniforms helping up the two siblings who also seemed fairly unscathed. The security chief looked past Cole, harsh shadows littering his troubled face.

"Um," Cole started uncertainly, "What floor is this…?" He inched back towards the light. Whatever this dark chamber was, it surely didn't feel very welcoming. It was uncomfortably cold.

"Well," Steven's familiar voice popped up again, "We must've fallen all the way to the bottom floor, so… this's gotta be B6." Walking up next to Cole, the other boy touched a finger to his spectacles and moved his hand to his neck, perhaps trying to rid himself of a crick that had found its way there.

_Great…_ Cole thought, _And here I was thinking I'd actually be getting 'away' from the danger for a change._ "So uh, what's up with the lights, then?" He tried to sound as calm as he could, but he wasn't exactly sure how well he had managed to suppress the quaking in his chest.

Kard stood a few feet ahead, apparently unabashed by the darkness that seemed to be choking up everyone else. "Lights. On," he projected decisively. It took a few seconds, but the sure enough, white light cut through the room.

Cole blinked. _What the…?_ Gigantic machines stood in lines, all heading toward the center of the furthest wall. The space was tremendous, and even with all the cluttered equipment, there was still a clear path to the other end of the room. Everything was riddled with dust, throwing off what might've been a naturally white color, not unlike that of the medical areas a few stories up. Oddly enough, a mossy coat huddled in every corner, complementing a musty scent that hung about the stale air. Though, it was the legion of tangled green streaks hanging from the ceiling that really threw the whole scene off balance. _Vines? In a place like this? But… don't those things need a warm, damp climate or something?_ It could've been a laboratory of sorts, given the electronics all over the place, yet somehow that vivid vegetation suggested something different. Cole squinted, eyes focusing on a large hole in the middle of the ceiling. Bits of rubble still trickled down from the opening, but he couldn't quite see where they landed with a long line of cobweb-stricken machinery blocking his view. "…_This_ is B6?" he heard himself ask to anyone listening.

"No," came Kard's low-toned reply, but he didn't elaborate any further. He only stood there, a few feet away from everyone else, gazing toward the far wall where one could scarcely make out the shape of a distinctly different machine, curving strangely around the top like a kind of worn out umbrella. "We should leave," he said, turning around to face everyone.

"Yeah…" Steven said raggedly, "How, exactly? The elevator's trashed, and I don't see any stairs around here." He folded his slender arms, the creases of his light jacket accentuating the point of his argument.

Kard snatched the radio from his hip. "Control, this is Chief Kard Borneum. Come in, please." A distinct urgency could be heard in the man's voice, but he still sounded polite somehow.

Immediately, the radio coughed up a response: "This is Control. What'cha need, Chief?"

"I need a team sent down to investigate Basement Level Seven."

For a moment, there was only static. "…_Which_ level, Chief?"

Cole stopped listening, figuring he knew where the conversation was headed. Instead, he took a few uncertain steps forward, letting his sock-less feet glaze over layers of heavy dust coating the floor. His cautious steps only led him a short way. In all honesty, whatever these machines were, they hardly seemed useful. They were all slightly different, sometimes carrying an odd protrusion on one side or a strange hole on another, but each one remained compacted into a rather modest cube-shape. Perhaps there was some significance under that dense, metal frame, but at the sight of rusted gears bending awkwardly into each other, most of the machines looked as if they would never run again. _Except…_ He quirked an eyebrow at the far shape that Kard had been staring at a few moments ago. _That one looks a little different…_ A sort of unsettling hesitance tugged at his chest, as if trying to warn him about the thing. And then he heard rustling ahead of him.

After a moment, the figure of a person slipped into view. "Why, hello there!" called a familiar twinge of enthusiasm, "How fortunate for me that you've dropped in." It was a man in a white lab coat, walking towards the group with relative nonchalance.

"Dr. Achan?" Cole inquired first, "How the heck did you get down here?" The presence of another fellow in trouble might've been soothing if not for the characteristic way this guy looked at people, weighing them tentatively from behind those scuffed glasses.

"Mm?" was the doctor's first response, "Mr. Rigen, is it? How odd!" He sort of smiled at the realization as he came closer. "And the young Klandsteins, too. Well now, it would seem we've a party on our hands." Even at the sullen faces staring back at him, the man continued energetically, "I'm sure you're already aware, but criminals have infiltrated the building. You see, they took me hostage, forcing me to guide them, but it would seem that one of their antics has caused us to fall into this strange room."

_Sheesh_, Cole said to himself, _At least my problems aren't as bad as his._

"Oh, and I would advise caution, my friends," Achan said, "I believe one of them is in this very room, hiding somewhere."

Cole barely kept his head from sagging. _Well, so much for that…_


End file.
